


Behind the Walls

by babyyhoneyy



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Clubbing, Developing Relationship, Drinking, England (Country), Fluff, Hospitals, Love, M/M, Past Abuse, Past Relationship(s), Recreational Drug Use, University
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 37,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24556606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babyyhoneyy/pseuds/babyyhoneyy
Summary: "Louis," Louis turns to him, and raises an eyebrow at the softness in his voice. "What happened in Manchester?" He asks it quietly, like he knows that what happened in Manchester has driven him to this very spot tonight."Hell. And then some." Louis answers shortly. He drops his cigarette to the floor, stubs it out with his shoe then walks back to the club, leaving Harry staring after him.At age 20, Louis Tomlinson finds himself moving to a university in London for his second year. A troublesome and complicated relationship caused him to leave Manchester University after just one year. Its at this second uni where he meets his housemates, Niall and Liam, and non other than the great Harry styles who, despite being immensely popular and the many many rumours, no one seems to know that much about.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thanks for choosing to read. I will try to update as regularly as I can. please leave comments, I would leave to hear what you think.  
> Please note that throughout this fic, there will be mention of:  
> physical abuse  
> emotional abuse  
> drug use   
> suicidal thoughts  
> panic attacks   
> anxiety   
> depression  
> if any other things come up that need a trigger warning, I will say so at the start of the chapter.

His mum pulled up outside a big, modern looking apartment building. It was grey, and had big glass windows. There were stairs leading up to the big doors, and people were filing in and out, carrying boxes and saying goodbye to their families for the year. Louis' apartment was on floor five. He scanned his eyes up the glass windows and counted up to the fifth one. He huffed out a deep breath, let his eyes linger on floor five for a couple seconds more then got out the car.

"What floor are you again, honey?" asked Louis' mum whilst she opened the boot and pulled out two of Louis' bags. He turned around and grabbed the bags out of his mums hands.

"It said in the letter floor five." Louis says as he begins to make his way to the door of the building. Behind him, his mum takes a suitcase and box out of the car and follows him into the building.

"It's a nice building this, defiantly nicer than the one you had last year." She says as her eyes scan the inside of the building. Louis hummed in agreement. She was, after all, right. His last place had been a bit of a shithole, but it was _his_ shithole, and it had started to feel like home until everything had to change. They made their way to the lift, luggage in tow, and started to ride up to level five. The lift was very clean and he could see his reflection in the big metal door. He saw his skinny black jeans, a black t-shirt and a blue denim jacket, all paired with his classic pair off, now extremely scuffed, vans.

"Yeah, defiantly much cleaner." Louis attempts a joke, but it comes out quite pathetic. He can feel his mum sensing his mood, but she doesn't press the subject.

Instead, she asks, "Did it say what your flatmates name will be?"

"Niall Horan and Liam Payne. They had a spare room last year that wasn't filled so I'm guessing that room has got my name on it." He paused for a second. "Niall's Irish."

"All bets on him being a loud one." laughed his mum. 

When the lift doors ping open, there's only one door, so there apartment must take up the whole floor. They make their way to the door and Louis takes the key he was delivered out of his pocket. He expects the two lads to already be there, but once they step inside its clear they haven't arrived yet. His eyes take in the place where he will be living this year. It's big, much bigger than his accommodation in Manchester. It's open plan, with a swanky, modern looking kitchen and a nice living room, with grey sofas and a big tv in front of them. He could see the door to three different rooms behind the living room. He wasn't sure which one was his though, so he thought it was probably best to wait for his other flatmates to get here. 

"Very nice indeed." Nods Louis' mum as her eyes scan over the room. 

"Indeed. Let's put these down and go and get the rest of my stuff." 

* * *

After a couple more trips up and down the elevator, Louis and his mum had successfully moved all his stuff into the apartment, where it lay beside the kitchen table. There was still no sign of Niall or Liam so together they unpacked all his kitchen stuff and food into the cupboards. Once all pots, pans and cutlery were put away, his mum suggested a cup of tea before she started to drive back home.

"Thanks for driving me mum, I really appreciate it." Louis says as he pours the boiling water into the mugs. He passes his mum's tea to her as they took a seat at the table.

"Of course, sweetie, what did you expect me to do? Make you walk?" She laughs warmly as she bring the mug to her lips. 

"Well I wouldn't put it past you, to be honest." Louis grins. His mum pretends to be hurt, and mimics crying. Louis breaks into a laugh and pokes her side. "I'm kidding you tit." 

"I know, I know." She says as she regains her normal composure. 

"I still have it in me to kid, despite what you all might think." His mums posture stiffens slightly. She looks at Louis for a long moment before placing her mug down and putting her hand over Louis. Louis stares at the gesture then lifts his gaze up to his mums kind, concerned eyes. He's just about to open his mouth to apologise, say he didn't mean it, that it was only a joke when-

"Lou, I know the past year has been hard on you, hell, it's been rough for all of us." Louis smiles weakly, "but I want you to see this as a fresh start. I know you didn't want to leave Manchester and your friends, but surely you can see that its for your own safety. Could you honestly return there after everything that happened anyway?"

Louis looks down at his feet. She was right. Always completely right. Louis wished she wasn't, it would make things easier for him. 

"No. No, I suppose I wouldn't of been able to." He says it quietly without looking up, and he can tell she isn't convinced. She gives his hand a squeeze, which seems to pull him into his senses. "I definitely couldn't." He says louder whilst looking up from his feet and holds his mum gaze. "Trust me, I know I couldn't have even stepped foot in my old place without running for the fucking hills." She lets out a small laugh. "It's just, adjusting to a whole new place, new people, new surroundings, it scares me a bit, you know?" 

She nods, "I know Lou, I know. But you're strong." He begins to shake his head but she stops him, "No. You _are_ love. You need to stop punishing yourself because of his actions. You're the sass master of Doncaster." She says playfully, causing Louis to push her off him, whilst suppressing a laugh. "One experience with one bad person doesn't define who you are and this is your chance to try and move on and heal from the situation." She pulls him into a hug and starts to stroke his hair. "I love you, Loubear. Call? Promise you'll call, please."

Louis breathes her in and wraps his arm tighter around her. "I will call mum, you know I'll end up going crazy if I don't. And I love you too, so much. I know I don't say it as often as I should but I really do." She pulls back and puts her hands on either side of his face. 

"You don't have to say it, I always know." She smiles her warm, sweet smile and Louis heart warms at the sight of it. "Now I would love to stay to meet the two boys, but who knows what time they'll get here and I must get back otherwise Lottie will kill me for leaving her with the girls for so long. It's a long drive back." Louis nods and stands up, they hug for another moment before heading back down to the lift. 

When they reach the car, Louis holds the door open for her, she kisses his cheek before stepping inside, "Thank you for everything mum, really." He speaks to her through the open window, bending down and leaning his arms on the opening of the car window. "I promise I will make the most of this. Like you said, second chance." She reaches her hand out and strokes his cheek, Louis leans into her touch. "I'm gonna miss you, and the girls" He says quietly. 

"Don't otherwise you'll set me off!" She says jokingly. "But please do call if things start getting bad again. You know, like last time." She says carefully, not wanting to bring up any bad memories for him. "You'll be careful won't you?" Louis can sense the hesitation in her voice. He knows that she's treading carefully, trying to get her thoughts across to him without actually saying anything. Well, she was doing a miraculous job, because Louis knew exactly what she was insinuating. 

"Yes mum I'll look after myself, please don't worry too much. Now really you should get going," he really didn't want to talk about it, too many horrid memories. "Otherwise Lottie really will have your head." They both laughed for a moment before she eventually drives off, Louis watching her go. He stays on the pavement for a moment, just staring at the other surrounding University buildings, he wasn't sure what was what yet, he'll have to get someone to show him round.

He's about to head back up, when he notices two lads sitting across the street from him, outside what looks like to be a cafe. They are both smoking, and both staring at him. One has short black hair, a chiselled face and, from what Louis could tell, many tattoos. He had a scowl on his face as he stared at him, and Louis wondered what he possibly could off done to offend him for him to look at him like that. The other boy had longer, curly hair. He was also staring, but not with a scowl like the other boy, just simply staring. He continued to puff smoke out of his mouth as he kept his eyes on Louis. Even from across the street, Louis could tell that both men were strikingly handsome. He wondered wether they had watched his goodbye with his mum. From where they sat, they could have probably heard every word he and his mum said to each other. If it was any other day, Louis might off gone and asked what the stares were for, but he was absolutely shattered from all the driving, unpacking and deep chats that he just decided to pull his own cigarettes out of his pocket and light it whilst keeping his eyes on the lads in-front, if they were gonna stare, he was gonna stare back. The short haired, scowling one had turned his attention to the pretty waitress standing beside them, but the one with long hair continued to stare. He seemed surprised that Louis hadn't turned away, and continued to hold his gaze. Louis puffed out one breath of smoke and raised his eyebrows in suspicion at the boy across the street from him. He stood there for a few more moments, puffing on his cigarette before throwing the stub on the ground and turning his back on the boy and disappearing back into his apartment building.

* * *

When Louis got back inside after the weird staring contest with the long haired boy from the cafe, he boiled the kettle again and quickly looked in all the rooms. They were all bare, Niall and Liam must off completely cleared them out when they finished first year. Each room was fairly big, every one with a double bed, wardrobe, desk and a set of draws, and each had their own en suite, which was a nice bonus. He didn't have one of them in Manchester. After the quick tour he made himself a tea with the now boiled kettle, and sat down in-front of the tv. He didn't turn it on though, he just needed a minute to gather his thoughts. 

It really had been a long day. From the early start and the three and a half hour drive, to the stare off between him and what he's guessing were two other students of this university. Was that what people were like here? They just stared at random strangers without a care in the world? Like seriously, they just _stared,_ especially that long haired one. Is this what he'd be dealing with here in this new city? People focusing their gaze on him for no reason? That won't do, he thought. I won't be goggled at anymore, he told himself. He wondered if the two lads were considered intimidating here. They defiantly looked the part of mystery bad boys who everybody was either scared or jealous off. If that's who they were, Louis wanted nothing to do with them, he couldn't stand people who thought of themselves as above everyone else. 

So instead of thinking about the boys from the cafe, he began to stress about wether he was going to be able to handle the move. He really had enjoyed Manchester in the beginning, the friends he made were really great. But his mum was right, if he stayed there who knows what would off happened. It was way to risky, what happened last year could of happened again. It was for the best, and Louis was going to do his best to not mope around about all that happened with _him._

With that in mind, he got up of the sofa, washed up his mug and the two him and his mum had used earlier, and was just about to have a slice of toast when two boys burst through the door.

"I'm telling you Liam, this year is going to be the one! Parties, clubbing, women! You name it, we are gonna fucking have it!" The voice came from a blond haired boy, who had a thick Irish accent. Niall, Louis thought. He blundered into the room and threw his bags onto the sofa. "Home! I've fucking missed this place." Another boy, this one with short brown hair, handsome face and dressed in grey skinny jeans and a white shirt, followed him through the door. Neither had noticed Louis yet, who was standing in the kitchen. 

"I agree, can't wait for this new year to kick off. I wonder where our new roommate is though, what was his name again? Leo?" Liam said as he threw a couple bags on the sofa next to Niall's. 

"It's Louis." Both lads whipped around at the sound of his voice. They did a double take when they saw him and stood motionless for a second before Niall finally snapped out of his daze. 

"Jesus lad you scared me!" Niall all but shouted before running up to him and tackling him into a very fierce hug. "I'm Niall, I'm Irish and I love eating!" Louis laughed at this very strange and abrupt introduction.

Untangling himself from Niall's grasp, he said, "To the point much?"

"Pretty much everything you'll need to know about me mate!" 

"And that he's very, very loud and always happy." Liam's voice came from behind Niall. "I'm Liam, really nice to meet you, sorry we are a bit late, Niall insisted on stopping off at McDonalds on the way." 

"It's great to meet you too." replied Louis. He went to shake his hand but Liam also pulled him into the hug, although this one wasn't as aggressive as Niall's. 

"You are one good looking man." Louis starred at Niall, stunned, and fought the urge to laugh. 

"Er-" He really was unsure about what to say. 

"I mean I'm not gay or anything!" Niall rushed to explain, "though there's nothing wrong with that, mind. I just couldn't help notice."

"Aha well, cheers mate. You're not bad to look at yourself." Niall grinned. 

"Well we both really want to hear everything about you but right now we've got to get the rest of our stuff out my car." said Liam. 

"I can come help if you wa-" Louis begins but Liam cuts him off. 

"No! honestly mate you stay here. You must of been waiting ages for us to show up. We haven't got much so we won't be long. That room is the spare one," he points to the one furthest to the left, "I'm sorry you had to wait to find out." Liam says apologetically. 

"It's fine don't worry, my mum only left about an hour ago so I've not been waiting long. You sure you don't want any help?" 

"No, you get settled," said Niall, "then we can properly get to know each other." He claps him on the shoulder, then him and Liam leave to get the rest of their things. 

* * *

"Louis? Are you done unpacking yet?" Niall's voice comes from the kitchen. Louis looked around at his now complete tip of a room. Just 30 minutes before it had been stripped bare, but Louis had turned it into a bomb site. Clothes lay unfolded all around the room, various books, notepads and pens were sprawled across his bed, and his boxes were placed carelessly on the floor. He couldn't help but laugh to himself, he never had been one for tidiness. Deciding that he better go out and properly meet Niall and Liam, he left his new room to join them. 

"Depends what you define as unpacking, if you mean tipping out all the contents of my boxes and hoping they will tidy themselves away, then yes, I'm done unpacking." 

"I take it your not a clean freak then?" laughs Niall. Louis shakes his head, grinning.

"Well that's something you and Niall will have in common then." says Liam.

"Liam's not like us Louis. He prides himself on the neat and tidiness of his room."

"I do not! I just can't stand to see things thrown all over the place."

"Better steer clear from my room then." Louis says.

"Trust me Louis, I can't remember the last time he set foot in my room. You hungry? We could order some pizza, I don't really feel like going out to eat right now."

"Yeah I could eat." He was really hungry, it was now half past 7 and Louis had eaten since lunch. "Where's the best place around here?"

"If there's one person who knows how good every single food place within a 10 mile radius is, its our Niall over here." says Liam as he wraps an arm around Niall's shoulders.

Niall nods. "Your in good hands Louis, you'll be well fed here, trust me." He winks and grabs his phone to order them some pizzas.

* * *

The pizza was delicious, possibly the best Louis had ever had. They are currently sprawled out on the sofas, drinking beer and watching football highlights, too full of pizza to move. 

"So, how come you changed unis then?" Niall asks. Louis ponders for a second on how to answer. He likes these two, he genuinely does, but he's not going to reveal the most traumatic experiences in his life to two strangers he's only known for a couple hours. 

"I had a bit of trouble with someone nearer to the end of first year. It just wasn't good for me to stay there anymore." Louis says, he glances towards the two of them, they both look pretty solemn. Niall's face one of confusion and Liam's one of concern. 

"What like a bully?" Niall's question seemed a genuine one, and it didn't come across to Louis that the thought of him having to leave school at age 20 because of a 'bully' was very funny too Niall. 

"No. Well, sort of I suppose, in a way." Liam and Niall don't say anything, so Louis continues, "It was a pretty damaging relationship and ended very, very badly." Their eyes widen in shock. Niall moves to put his hand on Louis shoulder, Louis flinches but doesn't move away. He knows Niall notices the reaction, but thankfully he doesn't comment on it. 

"Does she know you've moved here?" asks Liam. 

"He." Louis says quietly whilst moving his gaze down to the floor. He prepares himself for their recoil, their disgust, their disapproval, but instead Liam moves and sits on the coffee table in-front on Louis. 

"Hey, there's no judgement here, so don't ever feel ashamed for who you are, especially with us." Louis lifts his head up to stare at him, shock residing in his body, that is not a reaction he has experienced often. 

"Honestly mate, we don't care. That stuff doesn't bother us." Louis doesn't know how to say how grateful he was for their acceptance. 

"Thank you," he says softly, looking from Niall to Liam. "really, I appreciate that so much, you have no idea." Niall pulls him into another hug. They stay like that for a couple more seconds, and as Louis wraps his arms back around Niall and looks over to Liam smiling at them both, he can already feel something shifting in his heart for these two lads. Eventually, Liam starts to talk again. 

"I can tell that it's probably not a very happy subject for you and we wouldn't want to pry." Louis nods in agreement, Niall releasing him and sitting back on the sofa beside Louis. "So how about you tell us what uni you used to go to then." 

"Sure, and thanks, it isn't really something I like to talk about. Erm I went to Manchester last year, but I had to leave about a month before the year would have officially ended."

"Are you from Manchester?" asks Niall, he wanted to know why he 'had' to leave, but he could tell it was uncomfortable for Louis, so he tried to change the subject. 

"No, Doncaster."

"I've never been." 

"Nor have I." 

"Yeah well its not exactly premium quality." Laughs Louis. "Where are you guys from?"

"Well I don't know if you could tell, but I'm from Ireland." 

"Well duh. Maybe a little more specific? Irelands not exactly small." All three of them laugh.

"A town called Mullingar." 

"Oh right, did you two go to school together?" He asks, indicating his finger between them both. They seemed to Louis that they had known each other for years. 

"No we met here at university. I'm originally from Wolverhampton, which is kinda near Birmingham until I moved to Cheshire when I was 11. What are you studying here?" Liam asks. 

"Business and management studies. What about you guys?" 

"Music." says Niall. 

"Thats cool. Do you play any instruments?"

"You name it," begins Liam, "he fucking plays it. Which is great you know, super talented and all but let's try and keep the instrument playing to a minimum this year hm? So me and Louis can get some peace and quiet." 

"I'll do my best mate, but if the trumpets call, I'm obliged to answer them."

"I think the trumpets will understand if you choose not to answer them at 2 am when your flatmates are sleeping." Louis and Niall both laugh. 

"Okay okay I will try to keep it down this year, but for Louis, you know since he's new. I'm not doing it for you." Liam playfully punches Niall in the shoulder and they briefly tackle for a moment before regaining their posture. 

"So what do you do then Liam?" 

"I'm studying law. Its great but-" 

"Insanely boring!" interrupts Niall. 

Liam jumps to his own defence, "It is not! It's difficult was what I was going to say!" 

"By that you mean difficult to pay attention because it's just such a snooze fest." counters Niall, whilst yawning. Liam glowers back at him. 

"I apologise for this big oaf, Louis. He thinks the only subject worth studying is music."

"That's alright. Music is pretty great." 

Niall raises an eyebrow, "Do you play any instruments?" 

"A little piano, although I'm not great. I like to sing a bit as well, you know if the moods strikes me. Wether that be in the shower or challenging my sister to a karaoke session in Spain." 

"You have a sister?" Liam enquires. 

"Five, and one little brother." 

"Damn! That's a lot of sisters! What are their names?" Niall asks. 

"There's Fizzy, Lottie, the twins, Daisy and Phoebe, then my mother decided that one set of twins was not enough and had Doris and Ernest. They are only two."

"Thats a big family. Must be weird being away from them all." says Liam.

"It is, but like you said, big family. It's nice to get some peace and not have to live in that house all the time."

"If it was me, I'd go fucking mad living in a house with _five_ other girls. Boy it must get stressful." exclaims Niall. 

"Your right there," Louis grins. "You guys are gonna have to give me a tour tomorrow, this place is so big I've got no idea where I'm supposed to go." Laughed Louis.

"Sure, we'll show you where your lecture halls will be and stuff. Classes don't actually start till next week, so you've got a while to settle in." Louis nodded, all of this was said in his letter. 

For the rest of the night they watched a movie and drank some beers. Louis learnt that Niall had a brother, and Liam had two sisters. They became great friends quickly last year and spend a lot of time together even when they are not an uni. They party, a _lot,_ which Louis knew could become a problem. He found it so hard to resist a party, and his mum had begged him to really try and not go out too much. They said its tradition for everyone to go out and party for the whole week which was dedicated for 'settling in'. Louis knew that he should be cautious about going out because it would be so easily to slip back into his old ways, but now he was in an entirely new place with entirely new people and he was beginning to dare to hope that this change would actually be good, Niall and Liam really did seem like good lads. Liam was right, Niall was _exceptionally_ loud, he shouted and laughed everything he said, and for the hours they had spent sprawled on the couch, Niall barely stopped talking, and Louis didn't think he saw him stop smiling once. Liam was a bit more chilled out. Louis was really good at reading people and could tell that Liam was a bit more uptight than Niall and, although he knew Liam was a fun guy, you could tell that he wouldn't go completely of the rails, which was not the impression he got from Niall. 

It was about two am when they finally went to bed, pushing all the crap on his bed off the side and climbing under the covers. And even though it was just his first day, and he hadn't met anyone else other than these two lads, he already felt like he could be a lot happier here. 


	2. Chapter 2

Louis woke up the next morning to two texts. One being from his mother:

_**Lou darling. How was your first day then?!xxx** _

_Hardly a first day mum. all I did was fail to unpack my boxes and eat pizza with my two new flatmates._

**_you still haven't unpacked??? you promised that would of been the first thing you did! you said it was a top priority!_ **

_I lied_

**_I don't believe you_ _Louis. please get on with that right away._ **

_can't. gonna go have some brekkie then head out on a tour with my new besties. ill call later_

The other text was from his best mate from home, Stan.

**_broooo I miss u already !!!!!_ **

_that comes as no surprise to me_

**_cmon babes don't pretend u don't miss me too_ **

_not rlly any need for pretending_

**_ha. ha. I take it back I don't miss u_ **

_oiiiiiii I was only kidding course I miss your annoying face._

**_fucking knew it. u can't resist me even if you try._ **

After replying to the texts, Louis got into a pair of grey joggers, opting not to put on a shirt, and went to look out his large glass pained window. He had impressive view of the whole campus from his window. It was magnificent, it really was. He could see incredible buildings, all with intricate details and beautiful architecture. Below him he could see the cafe from last night. This time with a whole new array of guests were seated outside. He couldn't see the moody tattooed boys there, instead placed neatly around the tables, was a big group of girls, who all looked to be reuniting. They laughed gleefully, exchanged hugs and he could practically hear them shrieking. 

From the kitchen he could the sound of pots and pans and the rattle of cutlery. Figuring now was probably a good time to make his usual cup of tea and brunt toast, because _seriously_ he couldn't even manage toast. Embarrassing really, he knows. With a quick spray of deodorant, he headed out, leaving the actual state that was his room behind. 

He was met with a kitchen table full of eggs, bacon, hash browns, beans, sausages and a big stack of perfectly toasted toast.

"Hello handsome." Came Niall's voice from the fridge, grabbing a jug of orange juice. "Lovely tattoos, lovely surprise that, I say." 

Louis looks down at his chest, tattoos are dotted here and there. He grins, "guys. You didn't do this for me did you?" He asked Niall and Liam, astonished.

"Course we did brother! Nothing says welcome like breakfast!" Niall says, blundering over, thumping Louis on the chest and taking a seat. Liam followed suit, filling his glass with orange juice. 

"Well to be frank Louis, Niall is an absolute monster through-out the whole day if he isn't fed probably, so it's as much for you as it is him." Louis took a seat, laughing.

"Yup," Niall began with a face already full of food. The sight would off usually disgusted Louis, but something about him was so lovable it was hard to feel anything but affection for him, "I'm not even gonna deny that." He swallowed, "but this is still for you Tommo!" Louis was so fond of this boy that nicknames at this early stage didn't even bother him. Louis smiled as he began to load his plate with eggs and bacon.

"This is pretty much a daily occurrence." Liam said, bringing some bacon into his mouth, "We and Niall are quite the team in the kitchen." 

"I feel bad." Both Liam and Niall turned to Louis in confusion. "I'm a horrendous cook. Seriously the _worst_ you will probably ever meet, so I don't want you guys going through this trouble every bloody morning and me just munching off your hard work."

"Don't be silly!" Exclaimed Liam. "We love to cook and honestly we always make too much anyway so it's really no difference." Niall hummed in agreement, mouth too full to form a sufficient worded response. Louis smiled guiltily into his food, not being able to think of anything else to say.

"So how'd you sleep for your first night in London Town?" asked Niall once he'd finally achieved an empty mouth. 

Louis had actually slept great, which was a rare occurrence. His nights had been pretty restless for a long time, but last night he fell asleep quickly, and didn't wake up at any points in the night. He felt so great for it. 

"Amazing, thanks for asking." smiled Louis. 

"With a body like that I might have to jump into bed with you some nights." Niall said cheekily, running his eyes over Louis chest.

"Oi eyes up here!" Louis joked. "Might take you up on that though." He finished, sending a wink Niall's way.

Liam groaned, "Oh god, am I going to have to deal with you two flirting all the time now?" Niall stabbed his arm with his fork, causing Liam to screech and pull his arm away. 

"Don't get jealous Payno. You've had plenty of shots to get into my pants." Liam rolled his eyes and turned to Louis, shaking his head.

"You guys are great." Louis laughed, putting more food into his mouth.

"Your great too." responded Liam.

"Yeah I'm so glad we had an extra room." added Niall. Louis grinned, he was really glad they had a spare room, too. 

"So, tour!" shouted Niall suddenly, causing Louis and Liam to jump in unison. 

"You guys okay to show me around?" Louis asked. 

"Course we are," said Liam, "we'll take you to all the main places, you know, lecture halls, seminar rooms, food places, the library, our favourite cafes. You'll pick it all up soon enough, I learned my way around pretty quickly." Niall nodded in agreement, his face plastered with a cheesy grin. 

* * *

Once breakfast was finished, Louis insisted on doing the washing up, considering he hadn't been able to help any other way, then all three boys went to get ready for the tour. Louis took a shower, then dressed in black skinny jeans and a dark grey tank top, because it looked quite warm outside. He thought he better make the most of summers last appearance on this rainy island, before autumn came and swept Louis into jumpers and big comfortable jackets. 

"You sexy bugger," Niall remarked, when Louis joined them in the living room. "Tank tops really do wonders for you darling." It was weird how quickly Louis had become comfortable with his flirty banter with Niall, he was hardly like this with anyone. He went and draped his arms around Niall's shoulders, who was sat on the sofa. 

"Thanks honey, I'm wearing it just for you." Louis teased. His reply was met with the fake noises of throwing up coming from Liam.

"I can't take this flirting. You guys make me sick." 

"Ignore him Louis, he's just jealous." They both grinned then Niall bounced onto Louis, throwing himself into his arms. Liam had finally had enough and announced that the tour was beginning _'_ _immediately'_

The tour was incredible. Niall and Liam showed him around all the places they mentioned, and now there were no illusions in Louis mind about how breathtaking this place was. The lecture halls were enormous, clearly able to hold a much larger capacity than the ones in Manchester. The halls were lined with amazing pictures and paintings, which were framed in even more amazing gold imbedded frames. The place was a big mix between old and grand and modern and fancy. For example the library from the outside looked positively like something straight off the set of _Downton Abbey_ , but once inside, it transformed into this fancy, breathtaking volume of space. Filled to the brim with books, marble tables, expensive computers. It was two floors, a long spiral staircase leading you up to the second floor. 

And these were just a few stops on their long tour. Each place they visited made Louis smile grow even more. The food places on direct campus were striking. With their multicoloured chairs and long dangling light then hung from the ceiling. Niall was also providing entrainment throughout the journey. He told Louis funny stories about all the antics him and Liam got up to last year. Louis favourite was the one he told as they walked past a bike shed that was overflowing with hundreds of students bikes. He told them how one night, when he extremely drunk, he stole six bikes out the shed and delivered them to various accommodation rooms around campus, with a note saying 'Merry Xmas motherfuckers. From the one and only super hot and sexy Santa!' This was in March. 

Their last stop was a cafe. Niall claimed this to be the best one with the fastest service. It looked pretty similar to the one opposite their flat. 

"Might as well get some food whilst we are here." Niall said as he led them in. 

"Niall, you just ate a massive breakfast not two hours ago." Liam pointed out.

"So? All that bloody walking made me hungry." Niall countered, completely unbothered by Liams tone. 

"You can not possibly be hungry. You literally just ate your body weight in food," he turned to Louis as they got in line, "are you hungry?" Louis was about to rely no and that he would probably just get a tea or something when a shoulder barged so aggressively into him that almost all the air was knocked out of him. For a moment he was back in that dingy room, being shoved violently into the wall, a harsh voice screaming into his ear. But he snapped out of his daze quickly enough as he had trained his mind to do, and turned swiftly on the source of the offender. 

"What the fuck was that for?" He looked up to meet the dark eyes of none other than short haired, tattooed boy from last night.

"Don't know what you're talking about." He spat back at him.

"You literally just shoved your entire body into me. Or was that just my imagination?" Louis argued back. The boy took a step forward and Louis actually thought for a moment that he was going to hit him when Liam stepped in-between them. 

"Zayn, calm down." So he finally had a name. "No need to get so defensive." He said slowly. Zayn's eyes shifted from Louis' to Liams. He lingered for a moment, as if he was considering wether to listen to Liam or go forth with his original intention and knock the light out of Louis. After a couple more awkward seconds, Zayn finally took a step back. Liam moved back as well, and once he was out of the way, the other body from last night came into view. And if Louis thought this boy was handsome last night, then seeing him now, much closer and in daylight only proved his point further. The tension in the room was thick, Louis returned his gaze back onto Zayn who was staring right back at him. He was about to open his mouth and ask for an apology when Niall jumped in, because if there was anyone to save the five of them from awkward tension, it was Niall. 

"Harry!" So now both boys from last night had a name. "How you been?" Harry, who had been staring at Louis _again_ moved his eyes over to Niall. 

"Good. You?" The response was blunt and he drawled out his words. Louis had the feeling that Harry was not one for long, drawn out conversations. Which was fine by him, he wanted these lads to go, one of them having just come close to colliding his fist with Louis' cheek. Louis wondered if the two of them recognised him from yesterday, and judging on the constant stares, he took it as a yes.

"Not bad not bad! Happy to be back. I hope you haven't missed me too much." Niall said cheekily.

"Oh no, it's you that's missed me." There wasn't as much cheek in this remark as there was in Niall's, and Louis could practically taste the arrogance of this man. Niall, of course, just laughed. Maybe they were just accustomed to his arrogant comments. Harry's eyes found Louis' again. They roamed over Louis' body and lingered for a moment before he spoke again. "Who's this then?" his eyes didn't leave Louis' but Louis felt so patronised that he decided he would not respond. If he wanted Louis to answer he would have to ask him properly, you know, something along the lines of 'whats your name?' 

When it became clear that Louis wasn't going to reply, Liam stepped in. "This is Louis, Louis Tomlinson." 

He held his hand out, Louis wanted to just leave him hanging, he couldn't stand the rude energy he was getting off him, but to leave someone hanging was rude as well, so he moved his hand forward to shake it. Once they collided, Harry gripped him tightly. It wasn't painful, it just felt like he was clinging to him, as if it would help him learn every detail of Louis' life, if he just held on long enough. He stroked his thumb over Louis' knuckled, so Louis immediately retreated his hand.

"Where you from then?" Zayn muttered.

"Doncaster, but I went to Manchester Uni last year." Louis said, moving his eyes back onto to Zayn's. He looked less inclined to kill him now, but still fairly venomous.

"Forgive me if I don't shake your hand, but considering you almost just tried to hit me because _you_ barged into _me_ I think I'll keep my distance." Zayn didn't looked at all impressed, but Niall laughed and slung his arm around Louis shoulders. 

"Little sass master." He said in Louis' ear causing him to chuckle. Harry watched the interaction for a second before turning to Liam. 

"He's not in first year?" He asked. 

"You know, if you want to ask me something, you could just address me directly?" Louis countered as Niall took his arm from around his shoulders. Harry blinked at him. It was obvious that to have someone speak to him like this was not a usual occurrence for Harry. 

"Your not in first year?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"No." Louis answered shortly. 

"How come?"

"Not really your business." Harry stared at him for a long moment before turning to Zayn.

"Let's be off. Places to be." Zayn nods. 

"You guys out tonight?" Liam asks.

"Of course." They both say in unison then look to Louis one last time before walking out the door. 

"Who the fuck were they?" Louis says once they were safely out of earshot. 

"We'll explain when Niall here has ordered the entire menu. Long story." Sighs Liam. 

Niall didn't order the _whole_ menu, but he did order two croissants and a bacon sandwich, much to Louis bewilderment, he felt like if he ate another thing he'd explode. So after Niall was sufficiently fed for the second time in two hours, they began to make the walk back to their flat. 

"So come on then, lets hear the entire life and back story of them angry storm troopers back there." 

Liam laughs, "they are not _that_ bad."

"Really? Because in my head I was already planning the phone call to my mum, 'yeah hi mum, sorry to bother you but some moody arsehole has just landed me in the hospital because he happened to have the misfortune of barging _himself_ into me.'" 

"Okay, granted they can be a little stand-offish at first, but they are better once you get to know them." Liam replies. 

"I doubt that," Louis murmurs. "So do you know them well then?" 

"Harry's on my music course, so I get a long with him alright." Louis raises an eyebrow at Niall. But then should he really be surprised? That arrogance mixed with them looks could definitely enable him to pass as a rock star. 

"Harry doesn't particularly like many people, but for some reason this goon is one of them." says Liam. 

"That doesn't surprise me, how could anybody not love this Irish leprechaun?" Louis says as he squeezes Niall cheeks. 

"Oh you do make me blush," Niall grins. "I know most people think he's a bit of a dickhead and, I mean, he most definitely is." Louis sniggered, that he could agree with. Even though he had only spoken to Harry for about the span of two minutes, and half of that Harry hadn't even addressed Louis properly, Louis just _knew_ he was a prick. "But, I don't know, when I see him just like wrapped up in his music and really invested in his work, I sorta see a new side to him." Niall finishes quietly. 

"You probably see a bit of the old him." Liam says pointedly. 

"What do you mean by that?" Louis couldn't help but be intrigued by this mysterious handsome figure. 

"Well, I went to secondary school with Zayn and Harry. They've been best mates for as long as I can remember." They'd reached their flat, and started to make their way up the stone steps and into the building. "They didn't use to be so moody, and back then I actually got along with them but they just changed. They started doing a lot of drugs," Louis looked down, "and just became prized dickheads. Thats when I started to drift from them." They stepped into the lift and began to shoot up to floor five.

"You used to be good friends with them?" Louis enquires.

"Yeah, really good actually. I think it was when we were about 16 when we started to separate. I still like them, and like they are fun on nights out, but we are not as close." Niall opened the door and they all followed him in. 

Louis made his way over to fridge and pulled out three bottles of water. He handed one to Niall, who had hoisted himself up onto the counter, and one to Liam who was leaning next to Niall. 

"Do you like them Niall?" 

"I like Harry most of the time, and I don't have a problem with Zayn. Well apart from the fact he tried to kill my little baby Louis back there of course." He winked.

"Thanks honey, I value your support so much." He drinks a mouthful of water. "Ive seen them both before actually," he adds offhandedly.

"Oh really, where?" Liam asks.

"Last night. I was saying goodbye to my mum by the car after we'd finished moving my stuff and when I looked up, they were both just staring at me." Niall and Liam exchange subtle glances with each other before turning their attention back to Louis. "I've got a feeling that they listened to the entire conversation I had with my mum. they were just sat smoking and starting. Pretty weird actually." Liam and Niall shared another, not so subtle this time, glance. "Okay, what is it?"

"Nothing. Just, you know, tell us if they start giving you trouble." Liam says.

"Okay." Louis replies with hesitation, wondering why the conversation took such a serious turn. "Is there a reason you two are acting so odd all of a sudden?" He raises his finger and points accusingly between the two. 

"No reason!" Niall shouts, his big happy smile back as he jumps on top of Louis. Liam pulls him off him. 

"So, you up to going out tonight then Louis?"

Louis paused for a moment. His mum and the rest of his family had asked him to take it easy. They said 'obviously we want you to have fun and not stay shut up in your room all the time but just think about how bad it got.'. This was true. Things had gone extremely too far in his last months of his first year at uni, and ended in near catastrophe. No, absolute catastrophe. But Louis was better now, and he liked to think of himself capable of going on a night out without going batshit crazy. The temptation would be there, obviously, but he was in a different place, mentally and physically, surrounded by people he hardly knew. It would be better here, right?

"Most certainly, sir Liam." He can control himself. He _will_ control himself. 

"Great! Can't actually fucking wait to see you drunk Tommo." stated Niall.

"Ditto."

* * *

Hours later, Louis was back in the pig sty that was his room. Just one short hour earlier, he was committed to having this place spick and span before they headed out. But as the time dragged on, his room had managed to be in an even _worse_ state then when he left it for his tour this morning. Louis thought that had to be impossible. Apparently not.

He was going to have to call for help, it was his only option. 

"NIALL, LIAM." He bellowed. 

"Oh my god." Liam sounded faint as he took in the sight of Louis' room. "I do not know how you've done this, Louis, but you are officially worse than Niall."

"Get in. Cheers Louis, now it's you that will have to deal with Liams constant moans and not me." He looked positively gleeful and he laughed at the mess of Louis' room.

"I'm sorry but I can't stand this. I will not sleep tonight until we get this place exceptionally tidy."

"And on _that_ note I will be leaving." Says Niall, already out the door. 

"What? No Niall! You cannot leave me in here with him!" Louis shrieks. "He's going to murder me he's that offended by the state I've got it in."

"Sorry Tommo, you are your own in this one." He calls from the kitchen.

However, Liam wasn't listening. "I think we'll start with getting your clothes in the draws, then we will work our way from there." Liam's got his hands on his hips. Louis can practically see him calculating in his head how he's gonna get this room up to scratch. It makes Louis want to laugh but he bites his tongue.

Liam begins to pick up t-shirts and fold them neatly, then proceeds to place them into the chest of draws. With a huff, Louis copies him.

Although, Louis was never really gifted with the grace Liam has when he does this. Where Liams side of the draw had perfectly folded clothes, Louis' was just full of bunched into balls t-shirts. It takes a minute for Liam to notice, but when he does he lets out a cry.

"No! What are you actually doing? Do you genuinely not know how to fold clothes?"

"I do." Louis says looking to the floor. "Just can't be bothered." He huffs out, like a small child who's just been asked to sit on the naughty step. Liam rolls his eyes. 

"Why don't you just tidy all you notebooks and stuff away whilst I deal with the clothes."

Thirty minutes later, his room was close to spotless. Liam was an actual wizard, Louis thought. Moving at rapid speed and putting everything in the right place. He couldn't believe that he had tried for two days to achieve this, and not so much as made even a hint of progress, and Liam had been in here for half an hour and managed to bring order about the place.

"Thanks Payno." Louis grins, "your a real saint."

Liam hums, "just promise you'll _try_ to not turn it into a bomb site the minute I walk out the door." 

"You have my word."

"Boys!" Niall shouts from the kitchen. "You nearly finished it's getting late!"

"We should probably think about ordering some dinner or something before we head out to-" Liam's cut off by the ring of Louis phone. He pulls it out his pocket and sees his mother's name flash across the screen. 

"Hiya mum, sorry could you just hold on one second." He pulls the phone away from his ear and turns to Liam, "Sorry it's just my mum, do you mind?" Liam shakes his head and turns to leave but Louis grabs his hand. "Here," he pulls out his wallet and hands Liam some money, "take this and order us all a maccies or whatever, I don't mind what I have and make sure you get enough for Niall to make sure he's fed well and proper." 

"Louis you don't have to-" Liam begins but Louis cuts him off. 

"No, I want to. Lord knows I owe you, for the breakfast, the tour and now tidying my room with me."

"You sure?"

"Course, we'll eat and then head out yeah?" Liam smiles, nods in agreement and then leaves Louis to speak with his mum. "Sorry about that mum, was just speaking to Liam about ordering some food before we go out tonight."

"Your going out?" he can sense the tension in her voice. 

"Yes." He replies shortly, he's not in the mood for a big lecture. 

"Okay hunny. Just be careful okay? I don't want to be annoying or make you feel like you can't have fun but you know wh-"

"I'll be fine mum." He says impatiently, "Let's not talk about sad things yeah? I'm in a good mood."

"Okay." He knows that his mum doesn't want to end this conversation, but talking about it only makes Louis angry and upset, and he doesn't want to feel that way already on his second day. "Just promise you won't go crazy, and try to steer clear off drugs." Louis inhales sharply, it's been awhile since the subject had just been dropped straight on his head. 

"Yes mum, I'll stay away." His voice is barely above a whisper, but his mum still hears it. His mum understands that a change of subject is direly needed. 

"So, you said your in a good mood? How was your day then?"

Grateful for the change in subject, Louis all but gushes to his mum about how great the tour was. 

"The place is magnificent, truly. It's a whole lot bigger than Manchester."

"Wow, hunny. It does sound extraordinary. What are your roommates like then?" 

"They are pretty magnificent also. They made me feel right at home and I already feel proper comfortable with them."

"Do they know?" 

Louis hesitates, "No, I mean I told them the bare minimum, didn't feel right to unload a whole shit storm on them after such a long drive." She chuckles.

"Yes you're probably right, but maybe, you know in time, you could open up to them a bit more? It could really help and you said you're already feeling comfortable with them, which doesn't happen often with you." She points out.

"True, true." he grins.

"Think about it though?" 

"Yeah I will." He actually will, too. He's already got a place in his heart for the two lads outside, which hasn't happened for a long time. He's been so closed off from everyone recently, and even though he hardly even knows them, he can feel his trust and fondness of them growing inside of him. 

"Please tell me your room isn't still unpacked and tidy." She snaps him out of his thoughts.

"What? Oh, oh yeah. We just finished actually."

"We?"

"Me and Liam, he came into help when he saw the state of it."

"I like him already." She laughs. 

"Me too, me too." He smiles, looking around his room. 

"Well, I will let you get off, love."

"Yeah, they've just ordered some food so it will probably be here soon."

"What time are you going out?" He looks at his watch, it reads: _7:03_

"Well, its seven now, so once we've got ready, eaten, and had some pre drinks we'll probably leave around nine." 

"Okay. I love you hunny, have a good night." He can feel her worry through the phone, and has an urge to reach out to her and stroke her cheek.

"I love you too."

"Be safe." He nods, even though she can't see, then hangs up the phone. 

He hears Niall and Liam chatting just beyond his door, but he sits down on his bed and takes a deep breath. A lot of things could go wrong tonight. It must of been, what, four months since he was last out? And boy what a four months they've been. Well, what a year it's been. The last time he was out is the reason he sits on this bed. It was the last time he was in Manchester before he had to leave the next day. But he was different, better now. He was. He can handle himself, he can stay away from the hard drugs, especially around his new friends. He didn't want to scare them off two days in. He'll just have to resist as best he can. 

"Sorry boys, was just speaking with the mother." He swaggers into the kitchen and takes a seat at the island counter. 

"S'alright. She okay?" asks Niall. 

"Yes thanks, just wanted to know how I've settled in." 

"Saying that, I should probably give my mum a ring." murmurs Liam.

"Same here." adds Niall.

"We'll ring tomorrow, when we are nursing a hangover, food will be here soon." states Liam.

"FOOD!" Screams Niall. "Can't wait, I'm starving. Thanks by the way Louis, you sure you don't want any money for it?" 

Louis shakes his head. "No it's fine. I think I owe you much more than just a McDonalds anyway. Drinks on me tonight."

"Yes lad!" Niall shouts, the same time as Liam says, "you really don't have too." Louis smiles and shakes his head again.

"I want too, honest. Please accept my kind and gracious offer whilst it's still on the table." He winks cheekily at Liam, who scoffs, shakes his head, then wraps an arm around Louis shoulders. 

"Me and you are gonna be life long friends bud." Louis grins, the Niall charges into them, and wraps his long arms around both Liam and Louis. 

"And me!" He bellows, causing them all to laugh. 

One McDonalds and three beers and three shots each later, they were in a taxi, heading to the club. 

Niall claimed its the best one around, and that everyone will be there. Louis was a bit nervous at first, worried that he had been trapped in the bubble that was Niall and Liam, and that the rest of their friends would hate him. He'd already got off on the wrong foot with two of them. But Liam ensured him that they would all love him, and that they were probably going to try and 'steal Louis from them' but Louis 'must remember his roots and not abandon his new found best mates for their other friends.' Louis laughed and said that was highly unlikely, and that they had nothing to worry about. 

The alcohol was already kicking in, and he could feel his control and discipline slipping away from his as the time ticked on. 

"Heres to a good night lads!" Niall shouts.

"Yep!" The drink had done wonders to calm Louis' nerves, and excitement was already beginning to takes it place. He wasn't even thinking of the call with his mum anymore, he just wanted to have fun. It had been so long since he'd just had fun.

When they pulled up outside, he could see that the place was heaving. The familiar bump off music had settled itself in the back of Louis ears. As they stepped out the car, we was hit with the sudden image of a night four months ago. Pill after pill being handled to him, line after line of cocaine. Constant cigarettes. The breath was knocked out of him and he staggered back into the car. He vision blurred and all he could hear was the screams of people around him, the begs and the pleads from his old friends. Them darkness once again. 

"Tommo? Louis you alright?" Niall was in front of him, with his hands on his face. "Can you hear me?" His frightened voice pulled him out of his daze.

"Y-yeah I'm fine." Louis stutters, his throat suddenly exceptionally dry, he really needs drink. "Sorry." His senses were slowly coming back to him. 

"What was that, Louis." Liam looks scared out of his mind. 

"Nothing, I promise," he straightens up and plants a big smile onto his face. "Just got a bit dizzy all of a sudden, thats all."

Niall and Liam looked thoroughly unconvinced. 

"Lou-"

"Come on! What are we just standing here for, let's go get some drinks!" He tries to brush off their expressions, and eventually they do wear down, although they both still look cautious.

"I'm fine honestly guys. I just need a drink." He reassures them. 

They nod hesitantly, then head inside. 

The place was packed. The dance floor was heaving and they had to fight their way to the bar. Louis ordered two rounds of shots for them all, and a few pitchers of beers, then they headed for a booth that Liam said their friends were at. 

"Come on guys were late, it's almost 10! Everyone's been here an hour already!" Niall bellows over the booming music. When they start to get closer to their destination, Louis realises that it wasn't so much of a booth, but more like a private balcony over the dance floor, with leather couches and tables littered with empty drinks. It looked like the places where the kids from _Geordie Shore_ would go when they got into a club, and Louis instantly wondered who had rented out this space. 

"Liam!" Louis shouted, "is this a private area we are heading into?" 

"Yeah!" Liam called back, "Zayn always rents it out for nights out." 

"You sure I should come then?" They were nearing the steps to the area, and Louis suddenly had the image of Zayn punching him and yelling at him to get out. 

"No don't worry about it, all of our friends always come here, he doesn't care." Louis nods, but he still feels rather uneasy, so he downs one of the shots he was carrying. 

Once they are up the stairs, hounds of people start to jump on Niall and Liam. Louis is introduced to Ed, Henry, Nick, Johnny, Arthur and countless others of Niall and Liams friends. They are all really drunk, but they seem nice enough, and were not purposefully shunning Louis out for being a newcomer, which Louis was preparing himself for. On the contrary, they seem rather infatuated with Louis, obsessing over where he came from, laughing at all his jokes, and even starting to play with his hair. Louis recoils, he doesn't yet feel as comfortable with these lads as he does with his flatmates, but he isn't rude to them, just politely shrugs them off. 

He eventually worms his way out of a conversation with a couple he was stuck with, who's names were Leo and Lily, Niall had left him to it in search for more drinks. He promised he would be gone for two minutes, but twenty had now passed and there was still no sign of him. And frankly, Louis was getting tired of hearing them recount their love story for the third time. 

He went over to one of the booths in the corner of the balcony, thinking he saw a strand blond hair whip round the corner of it. The alcohol was defiantly hitting him now. He just kept chugging back drink after drink to try and drown out any bad memories.

"Nialler?" He slurred as he approached the booth.

"Tommo! Sorry mate got caught up in conversation." He pulled Louis into his lap and blew a raspberry into his neck. Louis instantly curled into himself as he shrieked, which caused Niall to chortle. 

Louis stayed in Niall's lap as he took in the rest of their guests around the table. He recognised the one to the left of Niall, who he had been dragged over in order to sit on Niall, as Ed, who grinned at him. Across from them, sat Zayn and Liam, who surprisingly were in deep conversation, both extremely drunk. Next to them sat someone Louis didn't recognise, and next to him sat curly headed Harry styles. Of course, because it seemed a bit of a tradition of his, he was staring straight at Louis when his eyes landed on him. Louis eyebrows quirked in surprise. Louis had worked his head all the way around the table, so Harry was actually sat on the other side of Niall, right next to Louis.

"Louis Tomlinson." He said calmly.

Before Louis could reply, Niall had shifted him out of his lap so that he was now actually sat next to Harry and not just on Niall's lap. 

"Where you've been Tommo I missed ya!" Niall shouts.

"Well I was fucking waiting for you wasn't I?" He grabs a drink from the table in-front of him, not even knowing what it is and drains it.

Niall starts to laugh uncontrollably, he looked as drunk as Louis feels. "You crack me up babes! Who were you talking to then?"

"Some couple called Leo and Lily. They are basically Romeo and Juliet from what I gathered, but after the third recount of their beautiful love story, I was kinda praying for the end of the play to catch up with them." The stranger besides Harry starts to laugh, catching Louis attention. 

"Your funny." he says matter of factly. "Who are you?"

"Louise, no Louis sorry, Louis Tomlinson." Louis offers his hand to the boy, over Harry.

"Hello there Louise, I'm Dean." He smiles sweetly and Louis returns it whilst shaking his hand. 

"Oh god I didn't mean to say that." Laughs Louis, "I can confirm my name is Louis and not Louise."

"Louis is too handsome to be a girl." Niall says, snuggling into Louis neck. 

"Aren't you two quite the couple." Enquires Harry. His eyes haven't left Louis since he sat down. Louis had been pointedly avoiding them. 

But now he turned to Harry, who sat with an unreadable expression on his face. Niall had turned his attention to the boy sat beside him, and Dean had joined in on the conversation with Liam and Zayn. 

"Yes we are. We bonded exceptionally quickly and have already got our wedding planned."

Harry laughs, "Cute couple you two make."

"Ahh I guess, but unfortunately Niall doesn't actually play for the same team, so our relationship has been built on a lie." 

Harry mocks shock, "are you telling me that Niall, _isn't_ gay?" 

"No," Louis exaggerates a sigh, "sadly not, I've not quite come to terms with that yet, do you think it could affect our marriage?" Louis isn't sure why's he joking with him, but he's too drunk right now to care. 

"Possibly. I think that depends on what team you play for? I mean two straight men in a gay marriage probably isn't an ideal scenario. However, one gay man and one straight man, is what most men dream of."

"Well, then we are in luck." Harry raises an eyebrow and smirks in triumph, he had managed to worm out the information he wanted out of Louis, and Louis hadn't even caught on. 

"Your gay?" 

"Indeed." Louis waits for a reply, but none came. "Well go on then," Louis huffs. 

"What?"

"Let's hear the disgust, the shame, the distaste." Louis looks down and just waits for it to come. He's too drunk to defend himself.

"I- I wasn't going to do that." Harry says quietly, attitude entirely different from the cocky one he was possessing just moments earlier. Louis lifts his head and opens his mouth to respond when his name is being shouted. 

"Louis! Louis!" It's Liam.

Louis turns his attention from Harry to Liam. "Liam! Darling!"

"Zayn has something to say." Louis turns in surprise, he had been so wrapped up in his conversation with harry he forgot there was others going on around him. 

"What?" He laughs, not expecting this at all. 

Zayn is as a high as a kite, and somewhere, in the pit of Louis' stomach he aches for that same feeling. He looks murderous even in this drunken state, and it's apparent that he really does have a distaste for Louis.

"I'm sorry about earlier." He mutters, staring daggers at Louis. It's evident by his tone that he feels nothing of the sort.

"Right." Louis says, not about to accept an untruthful apology. Zayn waits for more, but when nothing comes, he gets up and stalks off. "What the fuck was that about?" laughs Louis. 

"I was convincing him to apologise, telling him how great you are but I think he's too drunk for it to sink in." admits Liam, sad that his plan wasn't a success. 

"I don't think thats the alcohol. I just think he doesn't like me. I dunno what I've done though." chuckles Louis. 

"Your not bothered?" asks Liam.

"Why would I be bothered about some arse not liking me?"

"That's the spirt." Niall jumps in, "Come on let's go dance." He grabs Louis, then Liam, and they take off to the dance floor without looking back. 

They are on the dance floor, for what feels likes hours, although Louis has sort of lost concept of time. They dance to some classics like, _Mr Brightside, Dancing queen_ and _Billie Jean._ Louis feels high of energy, he's drenched in sweat and his white t-shirt is starting to clench around his waist. Drips of sweat or dropping off his collarbones and his cheeks are rather flushed. The sight attracts many men too him, and he's had about four or five numbers slipped into his pocket, all of which he has no intention of calling. 

One boy is being particularly hot on him and Niall, sensing his distress, jumps in to save him. Liam's already disappeared back up to their balcony, so Niall leads him there. 

"I'm telling you Louis, you're a fucking cock magnet!" Niall bellows as they reach their booth. Harry's head snaps up and his eyes widen at the sight of him. Louis doesn't notice Harry bite his lip and run his eyes down Louis' body. 

"Has he pulled or something?" questions Liam, a hint of amusement in his voice. 

"No. He just had them coming left right and centre, I had to practically pounce on one of them to get away." Grins Niall. "I don't do well with sharing." He continues to grin and squeezes Louis cheeks. 

Louis laughs him off. "Fuck me its hot in here." He says, fanning himself as he takes a seat next to a boy, who he was probably introduced to earlier, but he's having trouble remember his own name, let alone someone he met whilst completely intoxicated. 

"You are hot." Mystery boy says. 

"Thank you dear." Not paying much mind as he leans towards the table to find a drink.

"You've got everyone all over you, it seems." Harry's voice pops up from across Louis. He's staring (is that really a surprise anymore?), however he's changed places and has got a girl dropped over him now. Louis realises as he look around the table that there a few more newer faces then when he left, and with them they've brought a _lot_ of drugs. He hadn't noticed at first, but now he can't place his attention anywhere else other then the joints being passed around the table, and the lines of coke that are being snorted. 

Louis' throat itches and his mouth has gone dry once again. He will _not_. He thought he would be stronger when he thought about this potential situation earlier, but now he knows that if he were to do it just once, he wouldn't be able to stop. That's when he starts to freak out. He needs air, he realises, desperately. But he's trapped. He's got mystery boy on one side whispering in his ear and placing a hand on his thigh, he hadn't even realised this was happening until now, and he can feel the panic rising in his chest, sucking out the air and replacing it with ice. On his other side, sits Niall, guffawing and shouting at random people and guzzling down more and more drinks. 

He can't breathe and all sound have become fuzzed. He feels faint and can't understand a word anyone is saying. 

"Louis?" Comes a voice that he has no hope of paring with a face. Bright lights are shining in his eyes but by some miracle he manages to lift himself to his feet and stumble towards the door.

Once outside, he breathes in as much air as he possibly can, until it hurts to keep trying, and walks as far away as he possibly can from the noice of the club. He's walked about 20 meters before his knees start to wobble and he decides he'll have to stop.

He leans against a wall and slowly pulls put his cigarettes from his pocket. His fingers are trembling uncontrollably, but he manages too place it between his lips, but lighting his lighter proves an impossible task. He can still barely see, his vision blurred, but he knows he needs to breathe in smoke if he's going to live. He just knows. 

Then his cigarette is lit, but not by his own lighter. The first inhale felt like when you've been under water a long time and have finally come up for breath. The heat from the smoke melts the ice in his windpipe and he slowly starts to regain his normal breathing rate. He stays that way, with his back against the wall, eyes closed, and just puffing on his fag, until he's positive he'll be able to open his eyes again without fainting. 

When he does, he's met with a curly head of hair, bright green eyes and pink lips. Harry. 

"Want another?" he offers him his packet of cigs, Louis takes one, realising he's smoked his to the end. His fingers are still trembling slightly, and he attempts to light it, when harry hold his up. "Let me." Louis looks at him for a second, before leaning towards him and letting him light it. He pulls back at releases another breath of smoke. 

"Thanks." He mutters. Harry must of followed when he saw Louis freak out and run for it. He bows his head in shame, embarrassment coursing through his veins. 

"You alright?" Louis nods, still refusing to look up. Harry pauses for a moment, assessing Louis, then he speaks again. "What was that about?"

"Nothing. Just needed some air." 

"Do you honestly think I'd believe that?" Louis finally looks up, and stares right into his green eyes. There's something etched in the back of them. Concern? Worry? Surely not. He's obviously just come to humiliate Louis, catch him out for having a proper meltdown at the sight of a few drugs.

"As I said, nothing. Just got a bit hot in there that's all." He tries to sound casual, like he didn't just have meltdown, but fails miserably. 

"Because Mitch was all over you like a dog on heat?" Laughs Harry, trying to ease the tension. 

"Was that his his name?" He replies mildly, still trying to steady his heart rate. He can't believe that just happened. He really thought he was doing better, that he would be fine around this sort of thing, yet he's proved himself a failure yet again. But the truth that claws at Louis is what is stressing him out worse of all. He _wanted_ to do it. He wanted so bad to just take one of the joints that was being handed round, swallow one the pills he saw placed carelessly all over the table. And then it dawns on him. He's really no better at all, he'd just been ignoring his problems and pretending they weren't there, when really they were as present as ever, thriving in fact. Because, among all the commotion that just unfolded, that face was running around in his mind. His face was right there, swirling before his eyes. Louis didn't even realise it, but he was beginning to well up.

At this revelation, he realised that Harry was still beside him, about to see him cry. He forced his tears to stay put, turning away from Harry to regain some composure. 

"Sorry." He stutters out.

"Thats alright." Replies harry, seemingly unbothered that Louis has now looked like a complete freak in-front of him, _twice_. "What happened?" He presses again.

Louis turns back to him and forces a smile. "I couldn't unload all of that, it would just be mean to you." He actually does smile weakly, then looks up to the sky. 

Harry continues to stare. "I'm a good listener. Were you an addict or something?" Louis bolts straight up and snaps his gaze to him. Freaked out by the abruptness of what Harry just asked. Harry however, remains calm and still. "I could just sort of tell how your world seemed to stop when you saw the drugs."

"No. I was not an addict." Why would Louis tell him anyway?

"So what is it then?" Although he still seems unconvinced. 

Louis sighs, slightly bothered by this boys constant questions. "Why do you care?"

"I think you're interesting." Harry shrugs. Louis wants to laugh, then he actually does. 

"I'm not." He laughs again, although there's no real humour behind it. "Trust me, if you actually knew me and all my deepest darkest secrets, you'd run for the fucking hills. God knows thats what I try to do." He sighs again, then leans back against the wall and puffs on his cigarette. The flow or the nicotine trailing in his body soothes him immensely. Harry stares at Louis in amazement? bewilderment? pity? Louis can't tell, and doesn't really care. 

"You try to run from your own secrets?" He asks sadly. 

"If I had to give everything I own to be out of my own head for one day, I would." He says casually. He doesn't know why he's saying this to harry, but at this moment he's too exhausted to care, and he's not really bothered about what this man thinks of him. Harry looks genuinely saddened by this response and he goes to touch Louis' shoulder, but he pulls it back, deciding against it last minute. Louis doesn't notice. 

"That can't be fun."

Louis chuckles, "It's not." 

"Louis," Louis turns to him, and raises an eyebrow at the softness in his voice. "What happened in Manchester?" He asks it quietly, like he _knows_ that what happened in Manchester has driven him to this very spot tonight. 

"Hell. And then some." Louis answers shortly. He drops his cigarette to the floor, stubs it out with his shoe then walks back to the club, leaving Harry staring after him. 


	3. Chapter 3

When Louis wakes up the next morning, it's to a major headache, and a lot of heartache. 

He had left the club straight after he'd walked away from Harry. He walked back into the club, his eyes red and swollen, his hair sticking out in all places, and his fingers still trembling, they hadn't seemed to stop properly since they'd started, to find Liam already looking for him, saying he'd seen him rush off and Harry following him. He said he was dead worried and looked genuinely scared at the state Louis was in. 

Louis told him he had to go, and that he hoped him and Niall enjoyed the rest of the night, and that he'd see them in the morning. But, of course, Liam couldn't have that. He had said there was no chance he was leaving alone, and thats when Niall found them, visibly shaken too and insisting that they leave. Their worry seemed to have sobered them up a bit.

Louis was guilt ridden the whole cab ride home, worrying that he'd ruined their night. He also felt immensely deflated. He couldn't believe that this had happened on night _one_ and that he had all but fallen apart in front of a stranger. God, how embarrassing.

He didn't speak once, fingers nervously tapping against his thigh. Niall had given him his jacket, and Louis was wrapped up in it as he leaned his head against the window, his eyes soaking in the rain that had started to fall lightly outside. He felt uncomfortable under the concerned glances from Niall and Liam, they were clearly confused as to what happened and Louis knew he'd have to give them some answers, it was only fair. 

So as Louis lays in his bed, staring at the ceiling and contemplating the absolute mess that his life had already become, he realised that he couldn't remember a time when it wasn't a mess. Louis could almost laugh at himself for how stupid he'd been. 

Did he honestly think that ignoring what had happened to him, just pushing it to the back of his mind, would honestly solve anything? He had fallen at the first hurdle, and it was no abundantly clear that his issues were as apparent as ever. 

And settled in the back of his mind, was this _itch_ that filled Louis with absolute dread. He wanted to speak to _him._ He could try to deny it as much as he liked, but for some reason, he wanted to speak to the person that had single-handedly destroyed him. Bit dramatic maybe, but theres only truth in that statement, unfortunately. 

Louis couldn't. He knew that if he did, he wouldn't survive it this time. He so narrowly got through it last time. 

A massive wave off sadness suddenly over comes Louis and causes him to bury deeper into his bedsheets. Because, for one glorious day, Louis thought that life would be different here, that he could be better, life would better, but he'd ruined it all. He's falling again, and the fact that it happened so quickly shows he never really rose again the last time he fell. 

But, _no._

He would not let himself fall back into his own habits. He was bound to have a slip up, right? He can't have expected it to be easy. This is just a a bump in the road. It's laughable that he was having to give himself this talk on his third day, but that only made him all the more determined to jump out of bed and make this day a good one, and move on from last night. 

This was a bad idea. The sudden movement brought up all the alcohol and smoke from last night, and before he knew, he was bent over the toilet, spilling out the last of the previous nights pleasantries. As he emptied the contents of his stomach, he felt like all the the panic and stress of last night went with it. And for some odd reason, he felt extremely lighter, like some sort of metaphorical weight had been lifted. 

He sighs, then drags himself into the shower, washing the last traces of shame and despair off of his body. He stands in the shower for almost 20 minutes, just letting the steaming water burn his skin. 

Once finished, he pulled on a big jumper and some grey joggers and braved himself for the kitchen, where he was sure Niall and Liam were waiting for him, along with a full explanation about what happened last night.

Sure enough, there they were, sitting at the kitchen counter with steaming mugs in-front of them. they both looked a little worse for wear as well, which gave Louis the slightest hope that maybe they didn't remember.

This, was not the case. 

"Louis, morning." Says Niall sleepily, and gestures for him to sit next to him, where a mug of tea was waiting for him. 

"Morning guys." He murmurs as he sits down and sips his tea. Maybe if he spoke quietly enough they would just forget he exists and go on about their lives without them. It would defiantly make _their_ lives easier. 

"You feeling okay?" asks Liam. Him and Niall look pretty disgruntled, and Louis knows he was probably the subject of their conversation before he joined them.

Louis nods, and keeps his eyes trained on his tea. 

"Tommo," Niall says slowly, "can you tell us what happened last night?" He looks extremely skeptical, like he doesn't want to push too far. They deserve an explanation, they really do. They've been so welcoming and just _genuinely caring_ towards Louis and they hardly even know him and, if Louis was going to tell anyone, it would be these two.

But, he just can't tell them the whole story. He can't bring himself too. He hasn't been able to tell _anyone_ it. Not even his mum. 

"It's, er, it's really complicated, wouldn't want to bore you." Louis attempts.

"Come on Louis, don't give us that. Last night, when you just bolted out of there, white as a sheet and looking like you couldn't breathe, you scared me to death. And you had a bit of a moment before you even got in. Is there something going on that we should know about? We are not going to judge you, no chance. But we really care about you, even in the short time we've known you. You can talk to us Lou." Liam declares, moving his hand to rest on Louis' arm. Niall nods and smiles weakly.

He looks between the two of them, into their hungover and sleep deprived faces. He can see how much they care, it feels kind of alien to Louis, having people honestly worry about him. 

"You know how I said I had to leave Manchester last year before term actually ended?" They both nod, "Well, nearing to the end, I had a pretty bad run with drugs and drinks, and one night I just took it too far, not on purpose or anything!" He rushes to reassure, praying to god they believe him, "and my mum got really scared and pulled me out, decided that I couldn't be around there any more, and that I had to move."

"You overdosed?" says Niall solemnly. Both him and Liam have got grave faces, looking positively shocked.

"Yeah, a bit yeah. But I'm fine now, honestly. Was in the hospital for a bit, but like it wasn't even that bad so I got over it pretty quickly." The lies just seem to spill right out of him. And what was even the point, it's clear from their faces that they don't believe him.

"Did it have anything to do with your ex-boyfriend?" Louis holds back a laugh, it had _everything_ to do with his ex boyfriend.

"Yeah, a bit." Louis smiles. 

"What happened with him, Louis?" Niall is completely serious, and despite his usual boisterous personality, Louis can see no joy or laughter in his eyes. 

"That's... That's for another day." Thankfully, they seem to understand that Louis is not going to talk about him.

"Is it safe for you to go out?" Liam asks.

"Yes! I promise you guys, last night, it was just a bump, honest. I had to expect it, I mean I hadn't been out since I had to leave Manchester. It was stupid of me to assume that I'd just be able to go back like nothing happened, but I know that it won't happen again."

"Louis-"

"I promise you Niall. And Liam. I didn't want to tell you because I don't want you guys to see me as some wounded puppy and be constantly worried about me. I moved here to get past what happened, and I can't do that by just sitting cooped up in my room."

"Okay." Niall says quietly. "Okay Louis, I believe you. If you say it's alright, then I trust you." Louis sighs in relief. "But if this does happen again, promise you'll come to me or Liam okay? You won't just run off, we want to help."

"I will guys, I will."

"So you're sure it's okay for you to go out again?" asks Liam nervously.

"Yes." Louis nods vigorously. He waits for Liam's nod of approval, and after a few silent moments, he eventually does so. "Thank you guys, really. Thanks for not, like forcing me to stay here when you guys go out and have all the fun." He laughs, hoping to lighten the mood, but all he receives back are half hearted hums. "Come on guys! Let's not dwell on this all day! I believe I was promised a massive breakfast every morning when I wake up, and I don't smell any bacon!"

"Oh yeah, about that, I almost forgot, we've been invited for breakfast at Zayn and Harry's flat."

"What?" Louis asks incredulously. 

"Yeah, Harry texted me this morning, asking if we wanted to join."

"Again, what? Zayn hates me!"

"I don't think he does." Liam says sheepishly. 

"Erm, yeah? Last night, when he tried to 'apologise'," Louis hold up his fingers and quotes this, "he looked murderous, yet again. I don't think they mean for me to come as well, I'll just hang back." Niall shakes his head.

"Nope, Harry was pretty insistent for you to be there." Louis raises his eyebrows in surprise. 

"Really?" 

"Yep."

"I still don't understand though. This is probably a plot for them to kill me. Zayn will be planning it as we speak!"

"Come off it Louis, he doesn't hate you." Liam tries to reassure him.

"Are you two actually best pals and forget to tell me?" Louis points at Liam.

Liam furrows his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?" 

"Well you guys looked like you got on last night, quite well, actually, and you said that you weren't a big fan of him earlier." 

"I don't know, I hadn't spoken to him all summer and sort of forgot what he was like. He's actually a good lad, forgot how much I liked him." Shrugs Liam whilst he gets them some water out the fridge. 

"Did you rekindle over your failed attempt to get him to like me?" quirks Louis. 

"I don't know if I'd say it was a failed attempt, I mean you've been invited to breakfast." Liam points out.

"I dunno mate, it was probably just Harry that wanted Louis there." adds Niall. 

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, when you ran off and Harry followed you, where'd you two go?" asks Liam.

"I didn't go anywhere with him, he just followed me."

"He's taken a bit of interest in you." Niall tells Louis. 

"Oh?" 

"Yeah, can't seem to leave you alone can he?" 

"No, I guess not." Louis hadn't really thought about it, but he did seem rather persistent in talking to Louis all night. Like whenever he was around him, he always tried to speak to him, and then when he ran out like a maniac, he _followed_ him. "He actually told me last night he found me interesting." Louis adds, the memory just popping up out of nowhere in his head.

"What else did he say to you when he followed you outside?" Liam asks.

"Nothing really. I mean I can't remember much if I'm honest. I know he wanted to know why I had just reacted the way I did, but I didn't tell him anything."

"Good." Liam breathes a sigh of relief.

"Why'd you ask? Is it bad to open up to him or something?" He knows he will probably never open up to him anyway, he's just curious.

"I don't know mate, I mean Niall knows him much better than me now, he's changed a lot. He's just bad news I think. Never really cares about anyone anymore. I mean I haven't seen him pay so much attention to anyone as he's done to you, in what like two days? It's just strange." Louis turns to Niall after Liam finishes his speech, wanting to hear his input, considering he seems to be the one of their new found trio who knows Harry the best.

Niall stares at him for a few minutes, clearly dealing with some inner turmoil about his answer, before he bows his head to the ground and replies, "I agree with Liam." He seems a bit shameful to Louis, likes he's betraying his and Harry's friendship or something. Nevertheless, he continues, "He's right when he says Harry doesn't really _care_ about people much. Like he's not a monster, but he never really takes interest in anyone. Just sorta floats through life the way I see it. Like the fact he just out right said to you 'I find you interesting' I mean boy, I don't think I've heard them words come out his mouth, like _ever._ " 

Louis' a bit unsure about what to do with this newfound information. He can't for the life of him figure out what about him has struck such a spark in Harry. Especially since he saw the state Louis was in last night. For most people that would a red light, a big no no, but yet he'd invited, no _insisted,_ that he see Louis again the very next day, for breakfast no less. Louis doesn't think he's been invited for breakfast anywhere, _ever._ And for his very first time, it's by a stranger who's he's just been warned off completely. 

"I'm not really sure why." Louis admits. "I made a right tit of myself in front of him last night."

"Yeah well, Harry's an odd ball, always has been, likes the strange things in life." Liam teases. 

"Heyyy." Louis replies indignantly, before punching Liam in the shoulder.

"I kid I kid." Liam holds his hand up in mock surrender. "Seriously though, it's not that much of surprise really. I mean look at you." He exaggerates. "You are drop dead gorgeous, even I have to admit it. And you've got this rocky, mysterious past. You just show up out of nowhere, half way through Uni, and you attract so much attention just by being you. Of course harry wants a bite." Something about the way Liam says this makes Louis thinks that he's actually not kidding, and this is how Louis is coming across to all these people. 

"I don't know where you've all got this impression of me from, but honestly, there's nothing about me of any worth. You're all singing my praises too high." Louis would _not_ care to acknowledge the slow blush forming on his cheeks. 

"You don't give yourself enough credit mate." Niall jumps in, "you've swept everyone off their feet, me included." He plants a sloppy kiss to Louis' cheek, then ruffles up his already extremely messy bedhead. 

"Well, I thank you." He doesn't really know what else to say. Not really sure where all of this is coming from, his past is nothing to be admired, and as far as he's aware, alls he's done since he's got here is dance like a twat and have a breakdown outside a club in front of a devilishly handsome boy, who apparently has no real regard for anyone, and it's best Louis stay away from him. 

"I don't really know what all of this Harry stuff means to be honest, but don't dwell on it." Louis nods, not intending too anyway. 

"So, you up for breakfast then?" asks Niall.

"What, with the boy you've just spent the last ten minutes warning me about?" Laughs Louis. 

Niall and Liam shake their head simultaneously. 

"We didn't tell you this for you, to you know, be like scared off him or anything-" Liam begins.

"I'm not." Louis buts in. 

"And I believe you," Liam continues as if there was no interruption, "You shouldn't like pointedly avoid him, because he can be fun when he wants to be, but if he gives you trouble, or starts taking advantage, I want you to tell us." Liam looks stern, and when Louis turns to Niall, his expression mirrors Liam's perfectly. 

Louis gulps. "Okay, you guys always get so serious all of a sudden over this, is there something else I should know?" They both shake their head a little _too_ quickly in Louis' opinion.

"No, he just can be trouble thats all, we've both seen it before." Niall rushes to explain. 

"Right, I promise you both, whole heartedly, I might add, that if this guy even looks at me the wrong way, I will report it straight to you." They shake their heads fondly, both obviously a bit overwhelmed with the early morning, hysterics, haunting past revelations and alerting Louis on the towns bad boy, and are eager for an end to the conversation, as they decide to not push it from there. 

"So, I'll ask again, breakfast?" Niall's tummy rumbles as he talk. Bless him. 

"Sure, why not? I'm not one to pass on an offer of free food." 

"That's what I like to hear Tommo!"

* * *

Louis got dressed into black skinny jeans, a blue knit jumper and grey trainers then headed out with the boys to Zayn and Harry's flat. 

"Where's their place then?" 

"Not far from here. They are both pretty rich so their apartment is a lot bigger than ours." Liam answers.

"Hmm." So, rich is another thing to add to the list. Handsome, arrogant, music and now rich. Harry is becoming an ever more apparent rock star. "Is that why Zayn's able to rent out that private balcony every night at the club?"

"Yeah, pretty much." 

"I'm so fucking hungry. I hope theres lots of food." moans Niall. 

"I'm sure there will be plenty Nialler, no need to stress." assures Liam. "Harry's never been known to do anything small."

It's when Liam says Harry's name that the gravity of the situation he's about to walk into hits Louis. His mind drifts away from the mindless conversation Liam and Niall are having over there favourite breakfast foods and onto the potential hazards that he could be facing. Well, first off, one of the two boys for sure hates him, and Louis doesn't care what Liam says, Zayn's got it out for him. They got off badly right from the word go, and Zayn just hasn't warmed to him very well at all, lovable and charming as Louis is. Then you've got the boy who followed him out of a club in the middle of the night, whilst he was in the midst of a panic attack. What the fuck is Louis meant to say to him? Oh yeah sorry mate about last night, please kindly forget about how I cried in front of you, and also admitted to you that I hate living in my own head. How the fuck do you bounce back from such a grave testimony? 

He could just ignore it, never mention it, refuse to bring it up. Yep thats a fucking given. There is no way that Louis is ever recollecting that night again to Harry. But what if harry brings it up? What does he say? Louis is too tired, hungry and hungover right now to ponder any possible response, he'll just have to come up with something in the moment. He'll have to use his wit, or his ever faithful sarcasm to worm his way out of any confrontation. Because, harry had tried to confront him last night, get him to talk about what was wrong with him, so if he tries again Louis' gonna have to set some things straight. He's not going to tell Harry everything about himself, even if Harry uses his charm and looks to worm anything out of anyone, it's not going to work on Louis. Plus, Harry might not even remember. Louis could be completely over thinking this. Harry's this handsome, popular boy who everyone probably obsesses over, so he probably isn't going to dwell on a weird occurrence with a random stranger. Yes, Louis thinks, he'll just hang onto the hope that Harry doesn't care, and has forgotten. 

Then there's also all the shit that Niall and Liam drudged up earlier, about Harry never taking an interest in anyone, and how the way he's acting with Louis is strange and pretty foreign to them. Louis is feeling to shit to think on it any further. 

"Louis?" Oh. They probably been trying to catch his attention for a while now, and he's just been completely spaced out. 

"Sorry guys, what were you saying again? Must have missed that." 

"I said," begins Niall, "that we are almost here. Then, I asked how are you feeling."

"Oh, I'm fine?" He's a bit confused at the sudden interest.

"You just looked a bit solemn, thats all." shrugs Niall. 

"Yeh, sorry was just a bit lost in my thoughts. You said we are almost here?"

"Actually we've just arrived." They stop in front of a much nicer and fancier apartment building than theirs, and Louis genuinely thought their's was pretty swanky. 

"Their's is the top floor." Of course. They step up the grand stone steps and make their way into the building. Louis is met with chic elegant sofas lining the walls, a big table in the middle that is filled with leaflets and brochures about the university and surrounding areas, colourful flowers are littered about the place and towards the back stands the lift. The place is spotless, the posh and the rich kids who parents are probably all doctors or highly successful business men are seated about, laughing and joking about their summer abroad, and their ski trips coming up. Yep, this is where the loaded kids live. 

"How rich exactly are Zayn and harry?" Louis asks as they begun to shoot up in the lift to the very top floor. 

"Fairly." States Liam. "Zayn's family has always been friendly with the governing body, so I think that probably helps. But they've both always been well off." 

"What do their parents do?"

"I can't really remember, Zayn's dad runs a really good business, but Harry never really spoke about what his mum and dad did, even when I was really good friends with him." implores Liam. 

"I think Harrys dad is an executive of sorts as well," adds Niall, "I've heard some people mention it before. And I think his mum is like a manager or something."

Louis hums in response, not having time to actually offer a response, as the lift door has opened. It opens up to a single door, much like at their own flat, however this one is much grander, with an actual door knocker. 

Niall knocks for far longer than he should. Probably his hunger kicking in, but he doesn't have to wait much longer because, before they know it, Harry styles is standing in front of them all. He's wearing bright blue trousers, and a sheer, floating white blouse. On anyone else, it'd look completely ridiculous, but Harry makes it work. 

"Boys! Ready for some highly anticipated breakfast!" He's much different to Louis' ever seen him. Granted, he's only spoken to him a handful of times, but all of those times he's just seemed moody or sarcastic to Louis. It's a bit weird. 

"You honestly have no fucking idea mate." Niall exclaims whilst pushing into the room, not waiting for an invite. Hunger clearly getting the better of him. Louis and Liam follow suit. 

Harry leads them in and as they walk Louis takes in his surroundings. It's probably twice the size of their flat, with high walls and massive glass windows that scale from the bottom on the floor to the ceiling. the floor is marble and the walls all have intricate details on them. It's nicely decorated, all very modern and expensive, Louis can tell. The door had opened up into a living room, with nice grey plush couches, a very large tv and a glass coffee table. Behind the living room lays a dining table, its shiny and wooden and laid with a huge array of foods. Theres bacon, eggs, sausages, beans, pancakes, waffles, bowls of fruits and an excessive array of pastries. Louis can practically hear Niall's mouth watering. 

They all take a seat, Zayn seemingly nowhere to be seen.

"So how are you boys feeling this fine morning?" Harry's eyes linger on Louis as he asks, and he know the question is intended for him. He thinks he'll let someone else answer though. Instead he busies himself by filling his plate with food, and pouring some tea into a cup from the teapot. 

"Not too shabby," Niall says, face already stuffed with food. "I've felt worse"

"Agreed." Laughs Louis. 

"Wheres Zayn?" Liam asks, right as Zayn sulks into the room from a door, Louis is guessing is his bedroom. "Speak of the devil! Morning Zayn."

"Morning." Zayn grumbles back, he takes a seat across from Louis and pours himself some black coffee. He's got sunglasses on, no top and grey sweats. 

"I don't think Zayn feels as good as us Niall." Chuckles Louis. Zayn looks up at him, Louis can't see his eyes, but he guesses they are probably glaring right now. 

Louis just smirks back at him.

"He's not the best dealer with hangovers." Harry says.

"I can see that." Louis knows harry is looking, (because when is he not?) but still he refuses to look back.

"This is an impressive spread." Liam says, gesturing towards all the food.

"Thanks. I didn't cook it, but I oversaw all the efforts." Harry replies.

"Who would want to cook all this after a night out anyway?" Louis says, not being able to imagine anything worse. He finally looks to Harry, who just sits smirking back at him.

"Who indeed." 

"So what's the reason you summoned us all up here for breakfast then? Zayn doesn't look to be enjoying it that much." Louis keeps his eyes on Harry's, not actually looking to Zayn when he mentions his name. Zayn doesn't say anything, just sulks further into his seat. Further proving Louis point, he clearly wants to be in bed. 

"Just being polite." smiles Harry. "Welcoming you with open arms, what with you being new and all." 

"Very gracious of you sir." Louis deadpans. 

"Thanks for inviting us," Liam cuts in, "very nice of you both."

Louis scoffs, "I don't think Zayn had anything to do with it." Liam looks to Louis, giving him a 'can't you just shut your mouth' look. Louis gives him a sweet smile in return. He doesn't really know why he's being so difficult, but he just does not like Zayn.

"Look _mate_ ," Zayn finally speaks, "Your in my flat, so if you're gonna be so annoying just leave." Yep. Louis can not see these two becoming friends. Louis doesn't really want to be in his presence anywhere, so he'll take the invitation to leave, his bed looking more and more appealing as the seconds drag on.

"All right then." Louis stands up, "wouldn't want to be somewhere I'm not wanted." 

He turns to leave before Harry perks up. "No!" He says, a bit too quickly, "no. Zayn didn't mean it, he's never in a good mood after hang overs." Louis can't understand why Harry wants him here so much and, if anything, it just makes Louis even more hesitant to stay. But Niall wraps his hand around Louis' slim wrist and pulls him back into his seat. 

"Louis' on edge too, he doesn't mean to be such a brat." Niall jokes. 

"How very dare you Nialler! I am anything but a brat!" he mocks indignation. Zayn scoffs maliciously but Louis, being the mature fellow that he is, chooses to ignore it. 

"Why is Louis on edge?" Harry asks.

"I'm not. Niall was kidding." In all honesty, the hysterics of last night haven't warn off yet, and Niall is right, he _is_ on edge and he _is_ kind of being a brat, but Harry doesn't need to know any of this.

"Hmm." Harry is clearing unconvinced.

"So, Harry, you exited for the new year then?" Liam cuts in, driving the conversation away from the sensitive topic that is last night. Honestly, thank god for that boy.

"Oh yes, extremely." He doesn't elaborate, which suggests he probably isn't done with the previous topic.

"Well I can't bloody wait!" Jumps in Niall, obviously sensing Harrys tone too. Thank god for him as well. "Just got a good feeling about this year, you know? Especially now that we've got this cheeky bugger living with us." Niall jabs Louis in his waist with one hand, and ruffles his hair with the other. 

"Oi! I spent ages styling this this morning!" jabs Louis.

Niall bursts out laughing. "Fuck off. I literally saw you look at in the mirror, reach a hand up to style it, then you said 'honestly I can't be fucking arsed' and walked right back out."

"So are you watching me in the bathroom now?" ignoring the jab about his hair styling techniques.

"I'm sorry I just can't help myself." Niall sighs exaggeratedly, "your too sexy I can't take my eyes off you for one second." 

"Don't make me blush." Louis fans himself.

"You two are very flirty." Harry observes.

"You have no idea Harry mate." Liam says seriously. "They are _all_ over eachother back at the flat. Latched onto each other all the time."

"What can I say? Louis makes me weak in the knees." They all laugh, Louis thinks he even sees Zayn's lips quirk up a bit, expect for Harry. He doesn't seem impressed at all with Liams testimony, quite pissed off, in fact. 

Twenty minutes later, after they had all finished eating, they move to the living room on Harry requests that they stay and play some video games. 

Niall and Liam are sat on the floor in front of the tv and are wrapped up in a rather heated game of Fifa, Zayn has fallen asleep on one corner of the large sofa and Louis is sat right behind Niall and Liam. Harry is on the other corner of the sofa, next to Louis. 

"Oh fuck OFF." screams Niall, "That shouldn't of been a fucking goal! I'm gonna get angry in a minute." 

Louis giggles and kicks Niall in the head, "You already seem pretty angry darling."

"Shut up Lou." He pulls on Louis' leg and he slides down the sofa. He squirms for a bit until Niall lets him go, then regains his position on the couch. 

"So," Harry begins, he speaks so only Louis can hear him, his voice drowned out by Niall's and Liam's anger. "How you really feeling this morning?" Louis doesn't look at him, but he can feel his eyes on him. Surveying. Calculating. Observing. Analysing. Louis feels like a poem when Harry looks at him. Like he's trying to decipher everything about him, annotating every little detail, looking for metaphors in the tiniest things. He's not sure he likes it very much. 

His hope that Harry may have forgotten has gone completely out the window. He doesn't know why this boy is so insistent on knowing stuff about Louis, and it makes him feel a little uneasy. 

"Fine, thank you." He mumbles, still not looking at Harry. 

"You sure?" 

" _Yes._ " 

"Really?" Louis rounds on him.

"Why are you so bothered?" He shoots at him, getting more and more frustrated. 

"Just am." He regards mildly, seemingly unbothered by Louis' outburst. 

"Last night was... was nothing okay? So just forget about it."

"I'm not going to forget about it." 

"Why not?" His voice is close to begging at this point, desperate for Harry just to leave it alone.

"Because I thinks it's too important." Louis' mind strays off to last night when Harry said he found him 'interesting', and how Harry doesn't usually take interest in anything, and all the warning's the lads had given him this morning, and his frustration finally bubbles over the top. 

"Look," He keeps his voice low, so no one else can hear, but he speaks with malice now, "My life is not some thing for you to find 'interest in'. You can't just try to dig into my life because you're bored or whatever. Now I don't know why you're so bothered, but it's not your life, so just stay out of it." 

The fact that Harry doesn't even look taken aback by Louis' speech, only adds to Louis' ever growing frustration. He lets out an irritated huff. 

"Loui-" Harry starts, but is cut off by the ringing of Louis' phone. Harry's eyes flick to it.

He pulls it out his pocket to see his mum's name flicking across the screen.

Fuck.

She's going to want to know about last night, and she can spot Louis lying from a mile off. He could just ignore it, but then she would really know something was up. He lets out a breath, very aware of Harry's attention on him, then answers the phone. 

"Hi mum." The only person listening is Harry, everyone else in the room being wrapped up in what they are doing. 

"Hello darling." Her sweet voice comes through the phone, easing the pit of tension in Louis' stomach. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing much, just had breakfast at one of Niall and Liam's friends flat."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Nods Louis.

"Thats nice, dear. How was your night then? Feeling hungover?" the question had been brought into the equation far quicker then Louis expected. 

"Yeah it was alright." He tries so hard to answer casually, but of course his mum picks up on it straight away.

"Louis? Are you okay?" He can hear the worry in her voice. 

"I'm fine mum, I promise." As he says this, he can feel emotions building up inside of him. It's just, whenever he can hear his mum upset and worried about him, it makes Louis upset. He can't handle the emotion in her voice without almost tearing up himself. He's choking his words out now, trying his very best to not start crying in a room of lads.

God what they must think of him. 

"Lou, did something happen last night?"

"No!" he rushes too quickly, now she's defiantly onto him. 

"Louis. I'm worried." Her voice is stern. This isn't going well at all. How the fuck did he manage to mess this up? It was just going to be a simple phone call, and now he's dug himself into a big fucking hole. 

"Look, don't worry mum. Nothing happened, I promise. I'm just hungover, thats _it._ " 

"Louis, after last time, you can't lie to me."

"It's nothing like last time. I'm okay, I don't know what more you want me to say." Niall has turned his attention to him now as well as Harry. Niall is looking really worried, Louis shakes his head at him and mouths ' _it's fine.'_

"Okay." She doesn't sound at all convinced, "I'm sorry hunny, but you can't blame me for worrying."

"I know." He rubs a hand over his face. "and I don't, I understand."

"You'll tell me if there is something wrong, right?" 

"Of course I will." He lies. "Look mum I've really got to go, I'll speak to you later?"

"Okay love, if you are really sure. Love you." 

"I'm sure. Love you too. Bye." He ends the call, then leans back against the sofa and closes his eyes, rubbing his face once more. 

"Louis do you want to head off?" Niall asks. He says it nonchalantly, but he can see the concern in his eyes, obviously wanting to get him out of here.

"Yeah sounds good.''

"What?" Harry jumps in. "You don't have to leave."

"Nah we've taken up too much of your time mate." Niall pulls Liam off the ground. "Thanks for the breakfast Harry, tell Zayn when we wake up thanks as well."

Harry looks over to Louis, his eyes big and round. "You really don't have to go."

"I've, er, got some things to do back at the flat. Thanks for the invite." Louis mumbles, desperate to just get outside. His skin is heating up and the nagging voice of his mum's worry has now settled safely in the back of his mind. 

"Yeah cheers Harry." Says Liam, quickly catching on to the situation. He slaps a hand on Harry's back, who is currently standing up, looking pretty shocked at the sudden turn of events. He was listening to Louis' conversation, and it's evident that he wants to talk to Louis about it, and he's really not in the mood to hang around for more questions. 

They head towards the door, past a still sleeping Zayn. When they reach their exit, Harry following them, Niall turns around and thanks him again, and says they'll see each other again soon.

"Yeah defiantly," Harry hums, eyes turning back to Louis. "We'll makes some more plans before school properly starts." They all hum in agreement, Louis rushing to open the door. They make their way into the lift, and once they turn around, Louis' eyes meet Harry's. He looks as if he's about to say something more, but then the lift door closes. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello loves! Just a quick note please read.  
> Thank you thank you thank you if you are still reading!   
> I would love to know what you guys think so please leave a comment. If you are enjoying or if it's absolute shit, I really want to know either way. Would love to hear what you guys are thinking!  
> Also, TRIGGER WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER  
> drug use is mentioned, so please be careful if you have ever been affected by that.

There hadn't been any further plans made with Harry and co since the breakfast. It was now Saturday, a few days after the affair, he had spent the time with Niall and Liam, catching up on their course information for the year, completing any reading they needed done, and figuring out where their seminar and lecture rooms are going to be. They waked up late, ate massive amounts of food and drank themselves silly on the nights. They'd managed to evade Harry, who Louis was pointedly avoiding, by switching club or pub locations when they heard that Harry and Zayn were on their way. 

Louis didn't want to see Harry. He'd had enough of his constant questions and 'interest' in his life. Louis was pretty sure that Harry was only bothered about him and his past because he was bored, and looking for someone too torment. Learn all his secrets and poison them against him. The more he learnt about Harry, the more he was absolutely sure that he wasn't going to give in to him, or give him an answer to any of his questions.

You see, people talked. And when you spend night after night partying with people who have been around him for a whole year, it's hard not to listen. Louis was learning that Harry was a bit of an enigma. People talked about him, a lot, and most of it wasn't too good. Everybody knew him, and everyone had some story to tell.

Apparently he'd slept with pretty much everyone, which didn't really come as a surprise. This didn't offend Louis, he was a big fan of sex too, but he didn't sleep with every single person who walked, which seems to be the situation for Harry. Girls and boys, which, huh. Louis didn't expect that. 

The people he'd met on nights out said he does what the fuck he wants, has never been in a relationship, _loves_ drugs and drinking and, just like Niall said, floats through life. No regard for anyone, just constant one night stands, hook ups, with no strings attached. But what unnerved Louis the most was that he was not really coming across that way to Louis. He didn't _seem_ cold and heartless, and if all this about him not bothering about anyone is true, then why had Harry taken such an interest in him?

And, try as he might to convince himself that Harry was just doing it to badger Louis about it because he got some kind of kick out of it, there was something in the back of Louis' mind telling him that Harry actually did _just genuinely_ want to know. Maybe even, cared?

Maybe he was just going crazy.

Yeah, thats probably it.

Louis had managed to get through three nights of partying, clubbing and drinking without another slip up, which was filling Louis up with great hope. It probably wouldn't of been so smooth sailing if not for Niall and Liam. They steered him away the moment any drugs were brought into the picture, and though he couldn't avoid it completely, and they'd be silly to try anyway, it was already becoming much easier to just ignore it. He would look away, throw back another drink and go on with his night, no panic or meltdown following him. 

So, maybe things were looking up. 

At first, Niall and Liam were hesitant when Louis asked if they were going out the night after breakfast at Harry and Zayn's. He was fine after the phone call with his mum, just needed to get out of that flat and into his own. He rang his mum again a few hours later, apologised for the way he had acted and ensured her that he was fine. It took a bit of convincing, but eventually he managed to get her to accept that there was nothing wrong and it was just the nights activities catching up on him. 

However, Niall and Liam seemed convinced on the idea that there was something wrong, and that Louis' hadn't recovered from his breakdown. He was grateful for their concern, he was, but it really wasn't necessary, Louis had told them. 

They still didn't seem sure about going out when Louis asked, so he promised them that if something happened again, he would not go on a night out until he was absolutely sure he was fine. They thought this a fair deal and, however worried they were, eventually agreed. 

They needn't of worried though, the night had gone really well, and now Liam and Niall were a lot less stressed about the situation. The bump so far seemed only to be a one time thing, and everything was a lot looser now.

So, with it being the last weekend before their second year of university officially started, they decided to go big. 

Niall said he'd got them invited to the biggest party around. Everyone was going and, from how Niall told it, it was going to be fucking sick.

It was at a students house, one of the massive ones that looks like it belongs on an American frat street, and _not_ in London. These were where the _elite_ stayed. You know, pools, bar, cinema rooms, the lot.

Louis was fucking ecstatic. 

"Make sure you wear some trunks under your jeans tonight Tommo, we're going swimming." Niall winks. 

"Will do." Louis hums, his attention focused on the tv. They've just got back from lunch at the cafe across the street, nursing hangover's from the night before, and are now watching football highlights. 

"Tonight's going to be class. So many people are going, not just from our uni as well, literally everywhere." exclaims Niall.

"Harry and Zayn are coming." Perks up Liam, who Louis had thought was asleep. "So no avoiding them tonight, Lou."

Louis sighs. "Well I guess I needed to face them at some point, can't be running away from them the whole year." 

"No, you can't." 

"Well come on boys, let's not worry about that." Interjects Niall, "anyone up for Fifa? Call of duty?"

* * *

A few hours later, Louis was dressed in perfectly fitted grey skinny jeans, swimming trunks underneath, and a white polo shirt. They had walked to the house, as it was only about 20 minutes from their flat, and once they got there Louis was well and truly gobsmacked. 

He'd envisioned a massive swanky house, but this really takes the biscuit. The place was _enormous_ and looked liked it should be filled with star studded celebrities and filthy rich people. It was all glass walls and marble pillars, hundreds of people were just filling up the front garden, and music was blaring from inside the house. 

"Who the fuck owns this place?" Louis laughs.

"I don't even know, some guy named Tyler or something. Never met him I don't think. Anyway, come on!" Niall rushes up the path, and into the party they go. 

It felt like a club when they walked in. Coloured lights were flashing on and off in the darkness, sweaty bodies were everywhere, drinks were flowing and the music was so loud Louis was sure he'd be death by the end of the night. They made their way into the kitchen, passing friends and stopping to hug and say hi, to get a drink.

"This is mad!" Louis shouted over all the noise. 

"Innit!" Niall responded gleefully. "So what will it be boys?" He gestured to a counter full of drinks. 

"Shots!" Liam roared, jumping up and own.

"Woah," Louis grabbed him by the shoulders to steady him. "Steady on solider." 

Niall lined up three shots each, and they downed them consecutively. Louis throat burned as the alcohol trickled down his throat, then grabbed the three of them a beer.

"Boys!" They all turn round to the voice, Louis recognised him as one of the boys he'd met on his first night out.

"Johnny lad!" Niall claps in on the shoulder. "Where have you been? Not seen you since the first night!"

"Well I could ask you the same thing! Every time I'd see you, you'd end up running off before I even got the chance to say hi!" 

"Yeah well, you've got Louis here to thank for that, dragging us all around town." Liam laughs, hugging Louis around his shoulders. 

"Sorry, but I'm an explorer at heart, and this city is so intriguing." smirks Louis. 

"Of course, Louis!" Johnny bellowed. "Everyones talking about you mate. Fresh meat and all, you've got everyone hooked." 

"Well what can I say? I've always had a thing for the spotlight."

* * *

The night goes by in a flurry of drinks, dancing and laughter. Louis gets along with all of Niall and Liams mates, and they all seem to be quite infatuated with him. Rushing to speak to him, picking him up and spinning him around, getting him drinks. He can barely walk 2 meters before being pulled into another conversation. People introduce themselves and Louis, being the social butterfly that he is, gets them all howling with laughter. The attention is nice, Louis has to admit. Who wouldn't want it? 

He's lost Niall and Liam in the heat of the party, they've been sucked into the crowds of ever-growing people, so he heads into the kitchen to refill his drink. It's getting a bit harder to walk and stay focused, the alcohol beginning to take a tole on his body. He stumbles into the kitchen and trips over an abandoned vodka bottle on the floor. His feet give way, and if it weren't for the strong hands wrapped around his waist, he defiantly would have face planted the floor. The hands placed carefully on each side of his waist steady him, and help him regain his footing. 

Louis' vision is wavering, and all he can see at first is a mob of brown hair, but once he blinks thoroughly and focuses his gaze, he's met with the green eyes of Harry Styles. Their faces are only inches apart, Louis has practically plastered his body to his in attempt to steady himself.

"Thank you." Louis whispers, keeping his gaze locked with Harry's, who still hasn't removed his hands, and for some reason Louis sort of doesn't want him to.

"Thats okay." Harry whispers back softly. His eyes are terribly green, aren't they? Louis feels as if he's fallen into a see of freshly sprung soft green grass. His eyes are so big yet soft as the same time, and Louis is finding it hard to pull himself away, and Harry doesn't seem to want to let go either.

Where has all this come from? A few hours ago he didn't want to be anywhere near him, but not he's trying to use all his will power to drag himself away from the warmth of him. It'll just be the drink, Louis tells himself. 

Finally, Louis snaps back into his senses and takes a couple of steps backwards, Harry's arm falling to his sides. 

"Not seen you in a while." Harry states, they are still fairly close, so Louis puts a couple more paces between them, and leads them both to where the drinks are. 

"No I suppose you haven't." Louis says, trying to shrug of the awkwardness of what just occurred. 

"Been avoiding me?"

"What makes you say that?" Louis tries to make the notion seem incredulous, despite that being exactly what he had been doing. 

"Well, every time we turned up to a place we knew you were at, you just seemed to miraculously vanish out of thin air." Louis snorts and grabs a bottle of vodka that was on the kitchen counter and drinks it straight.

"Keeping tabs on me?" Louis asks in-between swigs. Harry stares at him for a moment, letting his eyes wonder all over him, then pulls the bottle out of Louis' hand and takes a big swig himself. Louis just stares back, a bit confounded at the abruptness of his actions.

"Maybe." Harry says cheekily, taking another drink. Louis pulls it back and drinks a big gulp of it himself. It burns his throat terribly, but he ignores it. 

"Why?" 

"Well you ran out of my flat so abruptly, disappearing for a few days after that phone call. Guess I'm just curious."

"I hear you don't get curious." Louis counters, ignoring the mention of the call with his mum. 

Harry frowns, "What do you mean by that?" 

"Well, people talk about you a lot, though I'm sure you know that, and they all tell me these _invigorating_ stories about you. How you just float through life, not caring about anyone or anything." Louis finishes his account with a long drink of vodka, the bottle half empty now. 

Harry is silent for a long time. He's got this expression on his face, almost, hurt? No that can't be it. God the drink is really getting to Louis' head.

He eventually speaks up, "people like to talk." he mutters his words, a slight hint of venom behind them. 

"Meaning?"

"Just that. People love to talk about you, even if they don't know you." Huh. Louis could relate to that. 

"So what they say isn't true?" He doesn't reply, just looks down, sort of in shame, it seems to Louis. "Ah, right. So it is true, but you just don't like people talking about your life." 

Harry looks up to him. "It wasn't always true." There's something about the vulnerability in his voice that makes Louis want to reach out and touch him, comfort him. But he doesn't. "Besides," Harry continues, not giving Louis a chance to respond, "people are talking about you an awful lot also." 

"Yeah Johnny said earlier, not too sure why though." shrugs Louis. 

"People are interested. I'm interested." There it is again, genuine curiosity into Louis' life. After he literally just said that the talk about him not caring about people is true. 

"What do they say then? When people talk?" Louis asks.

"All sorts. Wondering where you came from, why you showed up already a year into uni. Why you left." He says the last sentence a lot quieter.

"Nosey people here then, it seems." 

Harry hums. "Think they are all just intrigued. I mean you've got so many people infatuated with you. They were practically on top of you the first night you came out." 

"Yeah I remember. Still, I don't see what all the fuss is about. I'm feeling quite a lot of pressure actually. All this attention, yet they'll get to know me and find out that I'm rather dull. Maybe I should take up juggling or something, so they aren't disappointed." 

Harry smiles slightly, then shakes his head. "Not true, I think they'd only get more obsessed if you open yourself up."

"Yeah well, thats not something I tend to do." Louis says whilst turning his back to Harry to find another drink, his bottle now empty. 

"Why's that?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," he smirks over his shoulder, then pulls out a cigarette. 

He turns back around to him. 

"I really-"

"Louis?" Someone calls his name out from the patio of the kitchen. Louis is too drunk to be able to tell who it is from so far away, but the voice sounds familiar, really familiar. "Louis Tomlinson! No fucking way!" He comes closer and its not until he's about a meter away that his face registers with Louis. 

Louis does a double take. All the breath knocked out of his body whilst he physically freezes. His skin heats up rapidly and his breathing becomes ragged. This can't be. 

He walks up to Louis and pulls him into a one sided hug. Louis stays rooted to the spot. His heart is beating out of his chest and fear and anxiety begin to trickle through his veins. 

"Jesus! Not seen you for ages, not since you left."

Louis seems to regain some control, just enough to reply. He doesn't want to stand here like an imp, especially with Harry watching so closely.

"Y-yeah, it's been a while." He stutters out. "What are you doing here Malcom?"

"Friend of a friend. We heard about it yesterday and took the train down from Manchester." Louis' heart stops.

"We?" He squeaks out, dreading the absolute worst.

"Oh yeah, me and Dan." Louis lets out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, fierce relief washing over him.

"Oh. Haven't seen him in a while either."

"Yeah we miss you bro." Louis just stares, unable to repay the sentiment. Malcom's eyes shift to Harry's.

"Oh sorry, this is Harry." He gestures to Harry. "Harry this is Malcom."

"Nice to meet you." Harry smiles, although it doesn't really meet his eyes.

"You too." Malcom nods, then turns his attention back to Louis. "So, you're a bit of mystery back home. You never really explained why you left. Just woke up one day and you were gone. Obviously there were some rumours going around, they all seem a bit crazy though. I mean someone even said you ended up in h-"

"Yeah I'm sorry I didn't explain better." Louis rushes to cut him off. He's been too obvious, he knows. Malcom raises an eyebrow at him and Harry won't stop staring. "Just needed to leave really."

"Yeah I got that." Malcom seems a bit more aggressive now, angry that Louis interpreted him. "Well? Can I hear the story then, or you too good to tell your mates about why you just left without an explanation." Louis' own anger is beginning to build up. Friends? Thats fucking rich. They were no friend of his towards the end. They just sat back and let it all happen. Louis wanted nothing more to do with any of that fucking group. 

"Something like that." His confidence is rising, anger fuelling him. 

Malcom studies him for a brief moment.

"You spoken to Jamie?" and just like that, any confidence that he had managed to acquire, was wiped clean. His knees went weak and he was starting to hyperventilate. He hadn't heard the name out loud for months. The name that ruined his entire life, and broke him beyond repair. He needed to get away from Malcom, now. He knew exactly what he was doing by saying his name, and it was clear that there was no genuine care or concern for why Louis went away. They were still the same people Louis had left all those months ago. 

He stared at Malcom for a moment, trying to get his feet to move. You could see his chest rising and the sweat building up on his forehead. He felt like he did the first night they went out, only probably 10 times worse. His name had seemed to trigger something deep in Louis. Something terrifying. 

Miraculously, he turned away from Malcom and Harry, and walked out onto the patio. 

He couldn't believe it. Even when he's over 200 miles away, his demons still manage to catch up with him, and Malcom was just so casual about it all. Putting the blame on Louis because he didn't tell him every single detail about why he left. As far as he was concerned he didn't have a right to know anyway.

He stumbled through the back garden, narrowly missing the pool and walking off into the distance. He found a quite spot right at the end of the garden, next to a tree and sat down. He ran his hands through his hair and brought his knees up to his chest, then began rocking back and forth. It was proving a massive task to get his breathing rate back to normal, he couldn't concentrate because of the obscene amount of alcohol he had consumed. 

"Louis." It was harry. he'd followed him again. 

"Harry," Louis gasped out, "I- I can't really talk right now." Tears were beginning to stream down his face and he refused to look up.

"You don't have to talk." Harry said soothingly, crouching down and running a hand down Louis' back. 

"Harry please," Louis gulped. "Just go." he begged. 

"I'm not going to go." Harry said determinedly. He sat down beside Louis and kept rubbing his arm up and down Louis' back. They sat like that for what felt like twenty minutes, although Louis had lost all concept of time and was consumed by his own thoughts, so it could of been more like two.

He shouldn't be so pathetic about it, but he hadn't seen or really spoke to anyone properly since he left. He kept in touch with the few friends that he actually liked and got along with, but other than that there had been next to zero contact.

So for Malcom, Jamie's best mate no less, to just show up here of all places. He thought he had escaped that place. Clearly just running from your problems isn't enough anymore, they'll always find you. 

Louis hadn't told anyone what happened with Jamie, and it seems Jamie hadn't either. It didn't come across to Louis like Malcom knew, after all he was asking all these questions about why Louis had left. He obviously vaguely knew the situation nearer to the end, but not the penultimate catastrophe, let's call it, that really drove Louis over the edge. 

He sniffed then laid down on the grass completely, staring up at the stars. He counted them, this always managed to calm him, the same way that counting sheep helped you to fall asleep. 

Harry laid down next to him, it sort of made Louis jump, who had honestly forgotten he was there whilst he wallowed in self pity.

"Always seem to find ourselves in these situations don't we?" Louis tried to joke, the same way he always does to ease tension. 

"That we do." replied Harry, a heavy sigh in his voice. "Who was that Louis?"

Louis sat up, Harry following suit, and crossed his legs. He thought deeply for a moment, then laid his attention on Harry. "Malcom Child. Was a-" Louis paused, unsure of how to describe him, "someone I went to uni with last year. Known him for a while though."

"Child hood friend?"

Louis huffed, "not quite."

"And who was," Harry hesitates for a moment, treading carefully, "that other boy he mentioned?" Louis stares into Harry's eyes, contemplating him. He's literally got no reason to trust him. Besides even if he wanted to talk, he's not sure he'd be able to get his words out anyway. Not after being slapped square in the face with his monster of a past. 

"Someone you don't wanna know, trust me."

"Something happened when he said his name though. I saw it in your eyes. Your whole exterior changed and then you just left without another word. Who is he?" Harry asked again. 

"I really can't talk about him." He's got no effort to fight Harry on this, so he hopes Harry will take into account the finality in his tone. 

"Okay." Harry says softly, taking the hint. "Malcom said he basically had no idea why you left as well, does anyone know? Like the full reason?"

"Jamie." Louis spits out. "He's the only one because it's his fault. And Malcom's and all the rest of his fucking mates." Oh god, he can feel a rant coming on. "He show's up here, coming to a party for _my_ new school and has the audacity to try and turn what happened last year on _me_?" Louis retorts incredulously. "No fucking remorse. No fucking remorse." He mutters to himself. "Like I would fucking tell him anyway."

"When he was talking about the rumours, and he began to say something before you cut him off," Louis freezes. "What was he going to say?"

Louis gulps, reluctant to say.

"Was he going to say you were in a hospital?" Louis takes an even bigger gulp, his fingers beginning to tremble. Eventually he nods. 

"That's true, isn't it." Harry says so quietly that it was almost unintelligible. 

Louis nods again, tears starting to well up. 

"I thought you said you weren't an addict?" asked Harry.

"I'm not. Not really." He can't understand why he's revealing this to Harry, but something about him makes it almost easy for Louis to talk. He's not sure what is it, and he's not sure why. 

"What do you mean?"

"I was in hospital, thats why I left, but it wasn't a proper addiction. I was just going through some heavy shit then and... and turned to drugs to help. Bad idea." Louis exhaled, laughing slightly. 

Harry was listening so intently, not missing a word of what Louis was saying. "So you were in hospital because you overdosed accidentally?" His face had gone slightly green. 

"Partly." Louis murmured.

"What do you mean 'partly'?"

"Doesn't matter." Louis added hastily. 

Harry stared for a few long seconds. Louis was afraid he was going to push it, but he didn't. "Was Jamie a... a boyfriend?" 

Louis swallowed. "Yes." He whispered. 

"What did he do to you?" Harry whispered back. He sounded almost scared. In an any other situation Louis would have laughed. 

But Louis really didn't want to cry, and if he entered that conversation, the tears would start rolling and he wasn't sure if they'd ever stop. 

Louis shakes his head. "Come on. Let's go back in." Louis stands up and offers his hand to harry. Harry stalls for a moment, not wanting to leave, but soon enough he ends up taking Louis' hand and they head back inside. 

* * *

Louis loses himself for the rest of the night. He doesn't see Malcom again, the house being too big to run into the same person twice. He also doesn't speak to Harry again, but he often sees him staring from across the room as Louis slowly fucks himself up more and more.

Because, after being confronted by all his demons, it's a lot harder to stay in control. So when Louis is offered a joint by an unnamed stranger, he realises he can't say no. He just wants to forget. He takes it, and that was when things started to really spiral. 

The moment he accepted it, Harry was in his face again. 

"Louis. Are you sure you want to do that?" He looks down at the joint in Louis' hand then back up to his face.

"Your not my mother, Harry." Louis deadpans, then walks away, back into the thriving throng of people. 

It gets progressively worse. He starts taking pills as well. Then more joints until he can't see straight. There are hands all over him, grabbing and pulling in different directions. Louis just follows where they take him, no energy or restraint left in him to stop it.

Then he's being dragged to the pool. Before he knows it, his clothes are off and he's being pushed in. 

This wasn't good, or safe for that matter. Everything is so distorted. When he fell in, he felt as if he kept falling and falling. 

"I fell into to the fucking SEA!" Louis screams once he manages to break the surface of the water again, how he did it, he'll never know. 

There are cheers and shouts all around him. They start chanting, "SEA." Then all of a sudden they are singing 'row row row your boat'. 

Louis has never felt so free. Why had he stopped this when he felt so good? This was the answer to all his problems, he thought. Since he had taken that first drag of that joint, he hadn't thought of Jamie once.

So when he sees lines of cocaine being snorted on the table beside the pool, he crawls out to get a taste of it. He can't walk in a straight line. He stumbles left and right, trips over nothing, tries to blink away the blurriness in his eyes, which doesn't work, until he finally reaches the table. 

"Johnny!" Louis bellows, recognising him. "I FUCKING LOVE YOU!" 

Johnny burst into manic laughter. He's sat at the table, surrounded by people Louis doesn't know, or probably knows but is too baked right now to tell.

"Look at this lad! High as a fucking kite!" Johnny looks gleeful, then pulls Louis to sit in his lap. "Your fucking class you Louis, we saw you get everyone to sing row row your fucking boat. Don't think I've ever laughed so much." He ruffles up Louis' hair then starts to line up some cocaine. "You want some Louis?"

He does. He really really does. He want's it so fucking much.

He's young right? He's just living his life, right?

It'll be fine. 

If Louis was in any other state he'd have point blank refused, probably. But he's not. He's emotionally unstable and has fried his brain so much in the last couple of hours he can't even see straight, let alone make an informed decision. 

So it's that mindset that causes Louis to nod. 

Johnny hands him a rolled up note, and Louis starts to lean down, ready to inhale when-

"Louis! Stop!" It's Niall, and he looks horrified. Harry is behind him, looking really scared. "Your coming with me." His voice is etched with hurt and anger, then he picks Louis up and props him over his shoulder and moves away from the table and into a quiet, more secluded part of the garden. He leans him against a wall then grabs his face between his hands. "What the fuck Louis? What are you doing?" 

Louis tries to answer, but the full weight of the drugs he's taken are beginning to hit him, and since he hasn't done any in so long it's starting to hit him hard. He can't form words, and his eyes start to roll to the back of his head. He slumps against the wall, his whole body swaying, unable to ground himself. He was still just in his swimming trunks, so Niall took of his jumper and helped Louis get into it. 

"Look at his fucking eyes Harry. How much shit has he taken?" Niall sounds a bit drunk, but the sight of Louis has seemed to sober him up. 

"I don't know, a lot. I tried to stop him at first-"

Niall lets go of Louis' face and snaps up to face Harry. "Hang on, at first? You _saw_ him take the drugs and just let him out your sight? You didn't come and fucking find me? What the fuck Harry?" Niall shouts. 

"I- I'm sorry." Harry squeaks. "He just disappeared. I didn't think he'd take it this far." Harry fold in on himself, ashamed and frightened. 

Niall has so regard for this. 

"After you saw the state even the sight of drugs put him in? You didn't think to come find me?" Harry stays silent, with his eyes trained to the floor. Niall turns away from him in disgust. "Call Liam." He shoots venomously. "Tell him I found him and that we need to go, _now."_

Harry nods, even though Niall isn't looking and walks a few paces away to make the call.

Niall crouches back down and pulls Louis into him. His voice is softer this time. "Lou, babe." He mummers quietly into Louis' ear, "why did you do this to yourself?" The worry and concern rooted deep into his voice breaks Louis. 

The tears he's been holding back spill all onto Niall's shoulder. He gasps and drinks in the fresh air blowing all round them.

"I- I," he stutters for a moment, trying to bite down on the slurring of his words. "I'm so sorry Niall." He manages after a few more moments of trying. "disappointed. You. Sorry." He's just mumbling words out now, trying to string sentences together with no succession in sight. 

"Shh Louis. We'll talk tomorrow. Let's just get you home." He pulls him up with his hands underneath his shoulders. Louis lurches forward, the sudden movement taking a toll on his fragile frame. Niall steady's him with his hands on his waist. "Harry." He calls over his shoulder, "where's Liam?" 

Harry, who had been hanging back in the shadows, watching the scene before him unfold, pulls himself back into their presence. "He's coming, he was looking upstairs." 

Just as he said this, Liam turns up.

"Niall, where's lo- Oh my god! Louis!" He rushes forward and pulls Louis into his own arms. "How did this happen?" He turns to Harry, directing the question at him. Harry looks a bit taken aback by this sudden address. 

"Why are you asking me?" He says, his confidence flooding back into him, clearly angry at the accusation in Liam's voice, who was trying to imply that _he_ got Louis in this state. 

"Well you both disappeared at the same time, and Nick told me he saw you guys down at the bottom of the garden together." 

"It's a long story." Harry huffs out. "and Louis looks like he really needs to get home. Why don't I help you get him home, then we talk about what happened." 

Liam and Niall look hesitant, but Louis' needs outweigh their own. 

"Okay." Niall mutters. "Harry, go and find his shoes and his clothes, they must be around here somewhere."

Louis has been so out of it for this entire exchange, he'd barely picked up on a single word, just hung of Liam's shoulders, silently crying into his neck and gripping tightly onto Liams t-shirt. Niall pulls one of Louis' arms around his shoulders, and Liam does the same with Louis' other arm. They walk him out of the house, Harry following them in their wake after finding and picking up Louis' crumpled clothes. 

* * *

After an hour of dealing with Louis throwing up, sweating like crazy and crying, they finally got him into bed. It proved a difficult task, making he sure he was safe and not too hot in his bed, but they managed.

Now, Harry, Niall and Liam were sat around the kitchen table, with tea in front of them. No one had touched it. 

Harry had been told to stay in the kitchen whilst Liam and Niall sorted Louis out. But even though they were out of sight, Harry wasn't stupid enough to be able to deduce the sounds of commotion coming from Louis' room. He's no stranger to the affects of drugs, none at all. 

"So," Niall began. "You said it was a long story and I'm in no mood to sleep, so why don't you tell us why you let Louis do this to himself?" Harry had always been under the impression that him and Niall were good friends, but the indignation and cruelty in his voice caused him to believe that this impression may have been somewhat deluded. 

"How about we keep the allegations out of this, alright?" Harry bites back. " _I_ did not do this to Louis, don't even know where you got that idea from, but it's really fucking annoying."

"Well, you said you saw him take it at first, and did nothing to help. So what the fuck am I supposed to think?" Niall is outraged, that much is clear. He must really care about Louis to be this mad. Cares about him more in the space of not even a week than a whole year of knowing Harry. He can't help but feel a little hurt, Niall was one of the only people he genuinely liked. 

"Niall, why are you so mad at me? I thought we were mates, yet you're digging into me for someone who you hardly know, when I've been your friend for a year." 

"Length of a friendship doesn't matter mate, quality does." Niall spits. God he's so fucking angry, thought Harry. 

"Look," Liam jumps in before Harry could respond, looking knackered with red puffy eyes and scruffy hair, "we aren't here to fight okay? So just calm down. The _both of you_." He makes a pointed look at Niall before continuing. "I'm not happy either that Harry didn't come to tell us, but that doesn't mean it's his fault. Now harry, you've said there's a story so let's hear it." He doesn't sound exactly warm to Harry, but at least he's not spitting in his face. 

"Yeah, I mean I don't know everything. In fact, I know very little, but there was a moment tonight when I saw something just change in Louis tonight. And I think that it was the reason that Louis did this to himself. Why he lost control." 

Liam and Niall looked to each other nervously. 

"What do you guys know about him, first of all?" Harry asks. 

"What right do you have to know what he's told us?" Niall questions, narrowing his eyes.

"None, I guess." Harry shrugs, "but I don't know much, and if we combine information we might be able to piece together what's going on." 

"Louis is not some jigsaw for you to play with just because you're bored." Niall, who seemingly can't bite down on his anger, counters back. 

"Why do you think that about me? Why does Louis?" Anger was beginning to heat up inside of him. He was sick of always having his motives with Louis questioned. 

"Just don't understand why've you've taken such a big interest in Louis all of a sudden, considering I've never seen you this way with anyone before."

"Why should I have to explain myself to you?" Harry demands. 

The very unstable lid that had been containing Niall's anger blew right off. He jumped up out of his chair, startling both Liam and Harry, then slammed a hand down on the table. 

"You don't know him Harry!" Shouts Niall. "You haven't left him alone since he came here, following him around, questioning him about his life and inviting him to fucking breakfast." He sounds almost hysterical. "It's fucking _weird._ You literally have no reason to have such an obsession with him."

Harry retaliates and also stands up, crowding into Niall's space. "Why do _you_ feel like you get such a hold on him, huh? You hardly know him. So stop trying to act like a fucking hero. He's a grown man, he doesn't need you looking after him like he's some fucking toddler."

"I'm protecting him from _you._ Don't think I don't know what people say about you Harry. All the stuff you've done." Niall scorns. Harry has never seen him like this. Ever. He turns to Liam for help. They've been friends for years, surely he doesn't think of harry this way too? 

No help. Liam is looking at Harry, but it's clear he agrees with Niall, even if he's a bit shameful about it. 

"You don't know me mate." Harry spits. Niall is about to reply when Liam lets out a cry of frustration. 

"For fuck sake! Both of you just sit down and stop acting like fucking children! Like jealous fucking boyfriends!" He pauses, not continuing until they are both seated. Niall sighs angrily before dumping back down into his seat, Harry soon following suit. "Your both acting like you've got possession of him. Which, Niall, I guess you can sort of justify for it because you are Louis' friend and have a right to care, but still there's no need to get so fucking hot and heavy about it all. You don't _own_ him." Niall eyes widen at Liam, who stares back, stern, before he rounds on Harry. "And _you_ have no right. You two aren't mates from what I've gathered. You don't know him at all, and I know it's only been about a week since we met Louis, but even in that time he's started to mean a lot to us. So, I'm sorry if Niall is coming of a little aggressive, but he's still probably drunk, tired and worried. So, please can we just stop the conviction and be rational?" Niall eventually nods, although a little reluctantly. "Good," hums Liam. "Now, Harry, I've think we've established that we aren't going to tell you what Louis' has told us, that would be a betrayal off his trust. But we need to know what happened tonight, so please can you just tell us?"

Harry nods slowly, lets out a sigh, then begins. "The first night we all went out, too that club, and I'd seen how Louis had reacted to the drugs, I knew there'd been a problem with them, I could just tell. That's when I knew that Louis had been through a lot, could see it in his eyes." 

"All right, we know this, but we want to know what happened tonight?" Niall says impatiently.

"Okay, okay." Harry nods, taking the hint, they obviously wanted harry to tell them his version of events and then leave. "I ran into him in the kitchen tonight. He was already really drunk, stumbling all over the place and what not. We were talking and then this bloke, Malcom his name was, just called out Louis name from outside. As soon as he saw him he changed completely. Looked like his soul left his body. Then Malcom started asking him about why he left, got quite mean with him, and I could tell that this lad had given Louis a lot of trouble at Manchester."

"So this Malcom confronted Louis about his past, and that's what triggered this?" asks Liam, looking murderous. "Who the fuck was this kid?"

Harry shakes his head. "Not quite. He was still sort of okay, a little shaken, but he was biting back you know? Matching his aggression, but then he said something that made Louis turn white."

Niall swallowed. "What did he say?" His voice was barely above a whisper. 

"He said," Harry gulped, 'You spoken to Jamie?' " Harry paused, waiting to see if the either of them showed any recognition to the name. 

They turned to each other, looking solemn. "All bets on that being the name of his ex boyfriend." Liam supplied, looking at Niall with big, round glassy eyes. Niall nodded in agreement, then turned back to Harry.

"What happened next?" Niall said, urging Harry to go on.

"Louis stood rooted to his spot, the name really triggered something inside him. I've never seen anyone look so scared, honestly. His eyes were, they were-" Harry struggled for words to describe what he saw, but no matter how hard he tried, nothing came. "It wasn't good." Harry eventually came up with. "Eventually he managed to move, walking outside and sitting at the end of the garden." 

"Was that the last you saw of him? Did you leave him?" Niall accuses.

"No!" Harry replies incredulously. "Obviously fucking not!" He defends. 

"What happened then?" Liam prods. 

"Once Louis left I turned to Malcom because he spoke to Louis like shit and he had obviously said Jamie's name to provoke him, so I asked why he fucking did that, but he just smirked and I couldn't stand the look on his face. I knew that if I looked for a moment longer I would have punched him so I left and followed Louis."

"Was he okay?" asks Liam timidly. 

"No." Harry states. Liam looked crestfallen, whereas Niall was looking as if he were going to explode. "I just sat there with him for a while whilst he calmed down. It took a while but eventually he gained control again."

"Thank you." Liam says quietly. He just nodded in return, he didn't need to ask what he was thanking him for. 

"Did he say anything, like about Jamie?" Niall piped up. 

"No not really. But he did go into this sort of rant, I think he forget I was there to be honest. But this Malcom had _no_ idea why Louis left Manchester."

" _What?"_ Niall and Liam both said at the same time. 

"Yeah. That's why he was getting to Louis. He kept pushing him for answers about why Louis left, and when Louis wouldn't give in, thats when he brought up Jamie. He used his name as a tool to scare Louis. I know it." 

"Jesus fucking christ." Liam exhaled, sitting back in his chair and wiping a hand over his eyes. 

"Does anybody know what happened to him?" pumped Niall. "I mean, bloody hell, the people who were there don't even fucking know!" 

"Jamie." Harry blurts out.

"What?" Niall asked.

"Louis said 'Jamie, He's the only one because it was his fault.' when I asked him if anybody knew what happened to him. That's when he went into his rant. Was talking about how it was all Jamie's and his mates, like Malcom, fault. Then he started muttering about there being 'no fucking remorse.' " 

"Fuck me. What _happened_ to him?" Liam asks to no one in particular. 

"I don't know." Niall looked almost tearful as he looked up to the ceiling and breathed in deeply. "But now I'm really fucking worried. I knew that what went on was bad but I didn't, I didn't know that it was like _this._ " 

The three of them remain silent again for several minutes, each deep in thought, until Liam breaks the silence once more. "Did he say anything else?" 

Harry tries to rack his brain for any more details. His mind has become a little hazy amongst all the commotion. "There was one more thing. Malcom tried to confront Louis about being in," he hesitates for a moment, not wanting to indulge Liam and Niall into something that Louis might not have told them.

"Being in what, Harry?" Liam pries. 

"I don't know if I should say if Louis hasn't told you guys." Harry admits. 

"Whatever he's told you, he's told us." Niall says confidently. 

"Not necessarily." Argues Harry, "It was something that slipped out of Malcom's mouth and Louis did rush to stop him. He might not have brought it up if he didn't have too." 

"Was it about Louis being in... in hospital?" Liam whispers it. Niall snaps his head round to him, and gives him a "why the fuck did you just tell him that' look. 

"Yes." Harry replies quietly. "He told you guys?" 

"Of course he told us." scoffs Niall. Harry chooses to ignore this. 

"So yes, Malcom said he heard a rumour about Louis being in hospital, but Louis was quick to stop him developing his theory."

"Yeah well we already know this." 

"But theres _more."_ Liam and Niall turn to him, looking fairly frighted at what might come out of Harry's mouth next. Obviously unaware of anythng else other than Louis just being in hospital. "You will probably know that he was in hospital for overdosing. I'm guessing thats what he told you guys he was in hospital for?" They both nodded. "I don't know much, but when I asked him if he was in hospital for overdosing, he said 'partly'."

"Partly?" Niall repeated, looking blank. 

"Partly." Harry confirmed. 

"What does that mean?" pondered Liam. "What other reason could there have been?" He asked this to himself, and Niall looked at him for a long moment, but he didn't take it any further. Harry had the suspicion that they were not going to discuss this new development any further with Harry in the room. 

More silence. This time it was Harry who broke it. "He didn't say much more after that. Just admitted that Jamie was his boyfriend then went back inside. I tried to keep an eye on him but he disappeared. Then, when I did find him again, he was bringing a joint up to his mouth. I tried to stop him, honest I did. But he just brushed me off completely, then threw himself back into the fray. I didn't seem him again until I saw him in the pool, then thats when I went to try and find one of you." He finishes, then bows his head to the floor. 

"Why didn't you find us sooner." Niall pleads. He doesn't sound as angry anymore, just desperate. 

"I... I don't know." He looks up, shifting his eyes from Liam's too Niall's. "I'm really sorry guys. I should of done, I know. I'm just, just sorry." 

Liam sighs deeply, then moves to pat Harry on the shoulder. "It's alright. Thanks for helping us with him." Harry smiles up at him, grateful for his forgiveness. Niall doesn't seem as easy going, however. 

"Nia-" Niall holds up a hand to stop him. 

"Look Harry, I don't want to fall out with you. And I'm sorry for what I said earlier, about 'all the stuff you've done' I honestly think you're a good bloke. But, you can't blame me for being bit suspicious. Why _are_ you so interested in him?" Interrogates Niall. 

Harry feels hot under the gazes of Niall and Liam, and he knows his cheeks are starting to flush. "Erm." He's a bit stumped for words. What does he expect him to say?

"I'm not blind." Niall huffs out. "And if you don't know why you are taking such an interest to Louis, then maybe you should just leave it alone. For the good of all parties?" Harry wasn't entirely sure what he meant, but he just nodded his head, seeing it as an easy way out of an awkward conversation. "Well then, it's late, you should probably be off." 

"Oh. Are you sure? Will you two be okay?"

"We'll be fine thanks." Niall says bluntly. "I'm gonna check on Louis. See you on Monday Harry." He says of handedly, then disappears into Louis' room. 

"I'll walk you out." Liam smiles slightly, then leads Harry out the door. 

When they get into the elevator, Liam speaks again. 

"Sorry about Niall. He's just fiercely protective of Louis. I know it seems somewhat strange, since we haven't known him long, but I don't think its secret to anyone that Louis is a pretty damaged bloke. I mean you know that and you've had, like what, 5 conversations?." He laughs hollowly. "He's just worried thats all, and you know what he gets like when he's had a drink. He'll come around tomorrow. Then he'll be begging on your door step for forgiveness." The joke doesn't fit well into the situation, so neither of them laugh. He probably just said to try and ease the tension. 

"I know. I didn't take it to heart that much. He was just angry, and he had every right to be." The doors ping open and they make there way out onto the street. 

"Will you be okay walking back?" 

"Yeh it'll be fine." assures harry. "Think Zayn will be back by now anyway, he texted me a while ago saying he was leaving."

"Okay, well, just text when you're back, yeah?"

Harry smiles. "Will do. Will you text me on how Louis is doing?" Liam's grin falters for a moment, but he brushes it off almost instantly. 

"Sure."

"Thank you." Harry says softly. 

"Hey Harry?" Liam asks just as he turns around. 

"Hmm?" Harry hums, angling his body back too Liam. 

"Don't tell anyone about this, alright?"

"Of course I won't." Harry nods, pouring all his honesty into the sentence. 

Liam seems to believe him, because he just nods in return, then vanishes back into the building. Harry lingers for a moment more, eyes on floor five, more specifically the window that he now knows's has to be Louis', then walks into the night. 

* * *

When Liam gets back inside the flat, it's to find Niall sat back at his place on the kitchen table, head in his hands. Liam walks over to him and wraps him into a long awaited hug.

"You alright Nialler? What about Tommo?" 

"Louis' fine." Niall sniffs. "It just... it makes me feel sick, wondering what could have happened to Louis. And the fact that he did this to himself, because of one conversation, and the mention of an ex boyfriend? I think things are far more serious than we thought." 

With a heavy sigh, Liam lets go of Niall and sits back in his seat. "I know, I think it's terrifying." admits Liam. "And with what Harry said, about how the overdose was only 'partly' the reason Louis was in hospital? Like what the fuck else happened?" 

Niall rubs his hands over his tired, bloodshot eyes. "No clue. But it must have been bad."

"What are we going to do tomorrow? When Louis wakes up?" Liam almost moans, already dreading what the morning will bring. 

"Just be there for him. Cook him breakfast, and if wants to talk, we listen. I don't want to scare him by pushing too hard." Liam hums in agreement. "He's gonna blame himself for ruining our night, I know he will. So let's not make him feel any worse about it. I mean, I'm angry at him for doing this, especially since the last time he did this he almost-" Niall stops abruptly, not wanting to say the words out loud. 

Liam understands though. "This is really serious Ni." Liam says gravely. "Do we call his mum? Things could of got so bad tonight."

Niall is silent for a few moments, deep in thought. "Lets see what the morning brings," he says eventually. "Hear Louis out. I'm not mad with him anymore. I was at first, but I think he's been through a fucking lot, and I just know that if we knew what it was, it would be hard to blame him for relapsing."

"You are right. And I'm not mad either. Come on, let's get some sleep. We are gonna need it for tomorrow."

Niall hums, then drags himself out of his chair and away from the table. 

The minute each of them hit their pillow, they fall straight to sleep. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> if you any notes or thoughts on what you think of the story so far please leave comment them!

Louis wakes up to white washed walls closing in on him. He blinked hazily. His eyelids were heavy and drooped down painfully, making it extremely difficult to open his eyes properly. He gave up after a few more tries, and when his confusion began to sink in.

Where was he?

Why couldn't he remember anything?

How did he get here?

He could hear rustles and bustles all around him, beeps, flat lines, murmured voices. He could faintly make out a women's voice. It sounded an awful lot like a sob. He could sense faint, wet teardrops landing softly on his wrist. Someone had a death grip on his hand, holding so tightly that Louis was able to feel it even through his numbness. 

"Evan. We need codeine for his ribs." The distant voice was completely unfamiliar, and Louis still couldn't open his eyes to place a face to the voice he was hearing. 

Some consciousness was coming back to him though, enough for Louis to be able to fully grasp the pain he was in. Everything hurt. _Everything._ It was so hard to breath, his chest completely swelled up, and beyond painful every time he took a breath in. He was drenched in sweat and his head was pounding. It felt as if his brain was trying to claw and stab its way out of his skull.

He tried to move, and white hot pain shot though his left arm. He wanted to scream, but the attempt got caught in his throat, causing Louis to gasp. 

"He's regaining conscience." The same person from earlier spoken again, this time it was a lot clearer. "He needs to be stabilised."

Louis was fighting out, but it was like his body was pitted against him, not letting him move. Every single time he attempted to even lift a hand, pain surged through him. 

"Lou, baby." A women sniffed next to him. His mother.

His eyes flew open at the voice, finally opening normally. He began to take in his surroundings. There were four or five people moving quickly around him. They were dressed in blue, with masks over their faces. He gulped, any speech still frozen in his mouth. His brain was still slow, and it hurt to try and connect any dots.

He turned his head, ignoring the painful throbbing in his neck from the effort, until his eyes landed on those of his mother. Tears were steaming down her face, and he saw her mouth moving, but all sounds were drowned out when he felt a needle being pressed into his arm. 

His eyes widened in shock, he began to shake his head wildly at his mother. A hospital. He was in a hospital. He tried to plead with his mum through his eyes.

He managed to croak out a pit-full "Mum." 

The last thing he remembered was his mum reaching out for his face before he slipped back into unconsciousness.

* * *

Louis woke with a start. He felt trapped to his bed, and kept his eyes trained on the celling above him whilst his breathing rate slowed back down. He was dripping with sweat, and his sheets were drenched in it. 

He remained plastered to his bed whilst he attempted to calm himself down.

He felt like pure shit. His mouth felt like a desert and his head was pounding. His throat burned from the familiar sense of throwing up, and he was reminded vaguely and pouring himself out over his toilet seat, pretty much passed out, with only Niall keeping him steady.

He remembered the pleads of Liam, begging Louis to stop crying out and just let him tale care of him. He remembered the tears in Niall's eyes and the crack in his voice whenever he spoke.

The thought made him race out of his bed and into his bathroom. Louis didn't think he'd have anything left in him to churn up, but apparently even his own body was disappointed in him, and wasn't going to cut him any slack.

Once he was absolutely sure that he had emptied his entire insides, he laid down on the bathroom floor. Silent tears began to spill down his cheeks, and land in a puddle either side of his head. He wasn't sure if it was the pain he was feeling physically, the emotional trauma he was faced with last night (in the form of his past) or the nightmare, _no- flashback,_ he had dreamt of when he slept that was causing his tears. In all honestly, it was probably a big old mix of all fucking three. 

The problem was, he could hardly remember anything from last night. All that came to mind when he willed himself to remember was walking into the party, getting steadily more drunk as the night went on, that getting Malcom thrown in his face. From then on things were a little blurry. 

He had no idea what time it was, but judging from the light spilling in from the window, he guessed probably around eight. He's been laying on the bathroom floor for forty minutes. He stopped crying about fifteen minutes ago, but couldn't bring himself to get up. His bones felt like lead and his head was still swimming. There wasn't any sound coming from the rest of the flat, so Niall and Liam probably were not up yet.

Oh god. _Niall and Liam._

He doesn't even know exactly what happened last night, but he's mortified by his behaviour. What must they think of him? He's ruined their night, and made a complete mess of himself. They must be so sick of his problems. He's given them so much trouble and its only a fucking week in.

He had to do something to show he was sorry, saying it just wouldn't be enough anymore.

So, with that, he pulled himself off the bathroom floor, quickly brushed his teeth and threw on a big oversized jumper and some grey sweats. 

He didn't have the effort to shower, gross he knows, so he left the flat looking, smelling and feeling like shit.

* * *

One hour later, after Louis had chosen to walk rather than get a bus to the nearest McDonalds in an attempt to clear his head, Louis walked back into the flat.

His arms were full with bags containing McDonalds breakfast, and lots of coffee and tea. He placed them down on the countertop, silently thanking himself that the flat was still silent, Niall and Liam seemingly still asleep.

He was laying the breakfast out on the kitchen table, along with plates and cutlery, when sound started to flow out of Liam's bedroom.

He appeared out the door moments later, just in black boxer briefs, eyes widening in shock at the display.

"Lou..."

"I went out to get you guys breakfast. You know, since I can't cook and all. Thought buying it would be a safer bet than trying to cook and ending up killing you guys in the process." Louis said sheepishly, not meeting Liam's eyes. 

"You shouldn't have." Liam said sternly, typing to catch Louis' gaze.

"I really, really should have." 

"Look Louis," Liam began, still in the same spot, not having moved since he spotted the breakfast. 

Louis held a hand up, finally meeting his eyes, to halt Liam's speech. 

"Just eat okay? It's gonna go cold." 

"We really need to talk Louis."Â

"I know." Louis sighed. "But please, go wake Niall, and eat, then we'll talk."

Liam contemplated him for a moment. Louis was sure he was going to say no, but just as he was about to reiterate his point, Liam turned slowly and walked into Niall's room. Louis breathed out slowly, and stood nervously by the side of the table. He felt kind of helpless, just standing there and waiting for them both to come out and join him.

He was scared shitless that Liam and Niall would want nothing to do with him anymore. Kick him out, refuse to talk to him, cut him off. And the worst thing is Louis wouldn't be able to blame them. He'd deserve it, so he really had no leg to stand on. 

No need to worry though, because as soon as Niall stepped groggily out his bedroom, he launched him self into Louis' arm, pulling him into a bear hug.

"You gave us quite a fright Lou Lou." Niall whispered. Louis was doing all he could to hold back his tears. He would never admit it, but he felt so genuinely moved by Niall right now. And Liam only pilled onto his emotions when he joined in on the hug.

"You really did." Liam instead. "How are you feeling?" Louis tried to pull away to answer, but the boys only held onto him tighter, so he just stayed put, breathing into Niall's chest.

"Yeah." Louis managed to squeak out. He wanted to sing their praises, thank them for just being the best people ever, but the words were stuck in his throat, so the only other thing he could add was a measly, "the food's getting cold." 

They both nodded, releasing Louis and sitting down at the table.

"When did you even get all of this?" Niall asked, only now just taking in the amount of food Louis had bought. "Did you get it delivered?" 

"Walked." Louis replied. "Woke up a little early so used the time to clear my head, figured I should get you something to say thank you. Not that this even comes close to what you both deserve." Niall and Liam both stare at him, then opens their mouths at the same time. Louis could sense a speech coming on, so he spoke again before they got the chance. "Really guys," he laughed, "we need to eat otherwise it'll be stone cold and inedible. I promise we can have emotional and hysterical speeches after."

Niall laughed while Liam hummed fondly, reaching for a coffee whilst Niall tore his way into a McMuffin. Liam pulled some pancakes his way, and a bacon sandwich. Louis opted for a black coffee and a sausage sandwich. God bless McDonalds for their breakfast.

"Thanks Tommo for this." Niall spoke with a full mouth, the sight prompting a small smile onto Louis' lips. "Aren't you hungry?" Niall pointed to Louis' untouched sandwich. In truth, Louis didn't feel like eating at all, and when he attempted to take a bit of his sandwich, it made his stomach turn slightly. 

"Not really." Louis shrugged, sipping his now only warm coffee. He wasn't a fan of it like this, but he continued to drink it nonetheless. 

"You really should eat." Liam said pointedly. 

"I feel like if I eat I'll be sick." He looked up to their concerned faces. "I will warm one these up later," he gestured to the obscene amount of McMuffins in front of him, "I just don't feel like eating right now." 

"Okay." Niall nodded, opening up a second McMuffin and a box of pancakes. "I'm fucking ravenous." 

"When are you not." Liam laughed, also opening up a bacon sandwich. "I am too though, in all honesty."

* * *

As soon as breakfast was finished, Niall and Liam eating their way threw most of what Louis bought whilst Louis himself just drank his coffee, Liam dragged him into his bedroom and instructed him to shower, insisting that he stunk. Louis couldn't argue with him, he did stink, and was beginning to regret opting to not shower before he left.

The drops of burning hot water on his face felt like a welcoming friend, and when he stepped out of the shower, he was already starting to feel better, more relaxed. 

He knew it wouldn't last long though, because waiting for him outside his bedroom door was another conversation about his mental health, and Louis wasn't sure if he'd be able to convince Niall and Liam if he was fine anymore.

Especially considering he was defiantly less than fine. He could lie well, but he's not gonna be able to hide this one from them both. 

He walked out his room, dressed in some clean sweats and jumper, to join Niall and Liam in the living room. They were waiting on the couch, their heads bowed together until they heard Louis approaching. He had a sneaky feeling they were discussing how best to start the conversation with him. 

He sat down on the edge of the sofa. "I smell better now." Louis said, sniffing his armpit.

"Thank fuck, you were stinking out the whole flat." Niall replies, rubbing Louis' ankle.

A moment passed in silence, until all three of them spoke at once. 

Louis blurting out: "I'm so sorry."

Liam sighing: "We really do need to talk."

Niall whispering: "What happened last night Lou?"

Louis hummed amusedly, "we do need to talk. Last night was... It wasn't my best let's say that. I don't even know what happened but I know it must of been rough."

"Can you remember any of it?" Liam asked.

"No." Louis admitted,"I'm so sorry. The last thing I remember was seeing-" Louis paused, throat dry. "What happened?." He chose to say instead, avoiding the topic.

"Do you remember speaking to Harry last night?" 

Louis looked to Liam, brows furrowed. "Harry?" He says dumbly. "I mean, a bit yeah. Why?"

"You told him some stuff." Niall said quietly, eyes boring into Louis'. His throat went dry. Heat building up on the sides of his neck. 

"What did I say to him?" Louis squeaked out, terrified of what the answer may hold.

"Okay Louis, I'm going to tell you what Harry told us, alright? And whilst I'm saying this, I don't want you to freak out, okay? Just remain calm." Liam says.

Louis did not feel calm. In fact, he was on the other fucking end of the spectrum, shitting himself about the fact that he might of blabbed to Harry about last year, and then Harry may have told these two. Making it three people knowing what happened to him, and Louis wasn't sure if he could deal with that. 

"I'm not sure I want to hear this." Louis shakes his head vigorously and made to stand up, but Niall grabbed his hand and pulled him back down.

"It'll be okay Louis. We are here with you, okay?" Louis eventually bites his lip and nods.

"Okay, so, you said you remember seeing someone right?" Louis nods his head again, "we know that that guys name was Malcom."

Louis' eye widen, "wha-how?" He felt completely disoriented and baffled. "How do you know his name?" He blinked rapidly, trying to repossess some composure.

"Harry was with you when you bumped into him." Liam says slowly. 

Just like that, the memory snapped back into his mind. Falling into Harry's arms, staring into his big, round, olive green eyes, Malcom appearing, introducing Harry to Malcom, running away...

"Oh god." He rubbed a hand over his face, "I remember. I remember him being there."

"Good." Liam starts again, "Harry told us what Malcom said to you. He told us about Malcom trying to worm answers out of you, making you clearly uncomfortable. Then he said about you walking away when he mentioned," Liam trailed off, looking up nervously to Louis before he continues, "when he mentioned Jamie's name."

The room stilled at the name. Niall looked ready to envelop Louis into a big hug and never let go, and Liam was looking at Louis so pitifully it made him feel sick. He felt so weak with their concerned eyes upon him. They were acting as if any sudden move would break him, all because of a fucking name.

"You don't have to look at me like I'm wounded or something, it's just a name." Louis did his best to summon all the strength he could muster, and hoped it was a conniving facade, and it doesn't show how defenceless Louis feels at this moment. 

"Harry said that when Malcom mentioned his name, you changed completely, he seemed pretty scared by your reaction." Niall uttered. 

"Yeah well, I was drunk, alright?" Louis counters aggressively. 

"Louis. You don't have to get so defensive with us. We just care and want to help." Niall is calm, not at all fazed by Louis' attitude. 

"I'm sorry. It's just a sensitive topic for me. I don't mean to be rude to you, I just can't stand people thinking of me like a weak little puppy."

"We don't think that." Liam rushes, Niall nodding in agreement. "We don't, I promise. But we are allowed to be worried after what happened last night." 

"I know, I know." Louis huffs out, exasperated. "What else did Harry say then?" Louis prompts. "What else happened last night, because I dont remember much after walking out that door."

"Harry followed you, helped you calm down. Stayed with you until you were able to talk again."

Louis blinks at Liam disbelievingly, "He- he did?"

"Yes." Liam confirms. "I know, I found it hard to believe either. I've never known Harry to leave a party to just sit with someone before." Liam says, almost to himself.

"And when I was able to talk again, what did I say?" Louis asks, nervously tapping his finger against his thigh. 

"You told him that Jaime was your boyfriend." Louis' breath hitches. 

"Oh no, oh no no no no no." Louis puts his head in is hands, his shoulders shuddering. 

"Is he," Liam pauses, as if unsure wether to continue. Niall comes and sits right beside Louis, who's head is still in his hands, and wraps his arms around Louis. He nods at Liam as if to say 'go on.' Liam bows his head in return before speaking again, "the boyfriend you told us about? The reason you had to leave Manchester?"

Louis pulls himself away from Niall, registering how feeble he looks right now. Pulling himself together he lets out a bated breathed, "Yes." 

"We thought so." States Niall. 

"You told him that it was Jamie's fault you left Manchester, Jamie's and his friends, like Malcom. You ranted about it a bit, Harry said. You told him about being in hospital because of the overdose." 

Louis gaped at Liam. He didn't even have the energy to panic over this revelation, but the thought of him unloading that on a boy he barely knows when he _never_ talks about himself or his past to anyone, makes him feel sick to his stomach.

"I told him all of that." He smacks a hand to his hand. "God what the fucks _wrong_ with me." He lets out a merciless laugh.

Niall and Liam don't respond, just try to sooth him with gentle touches. 

"I can't believe that Harry Styles knows that information about me. And _I'm_ the one that fucking told him!" Louis said it so ironically, that a wanderer might think that Louis actually thought that it was funny. 

"Yeah." Niall says sympathetically. 

Louis laughed again, feeling slightly delirious. Maybe it was the hangover, or the lack of food, or just the general mess that was his life that was driving him over the edge. 

"Let me guess, it was after that conversation that I tried to obliterate myself with every drug I could lay my hands on." Louis said, looking up to Liam and Niall. 

"Yes. It wasn't good Louis." Niall, didn't sound cold, but he way more serious than Louis had ever heard him before. 

Louis gulped. "I know. I'm so sorry. I ruined your night. God you must hate me so much."

"We don't care about that." Niall declared. "You mean way more to us than some stupid fucking party. We are _worried_ Louis. You were to out of it too remember, but you were in a really bad state last night, really bad."

Louis swallowed deeply, forcing himself to not cry. "I know I don't remember, but I know the kind of states I can get in. Trust me, I've been in much, much worse. So I'm so fucking sorry for putting you through that when you hardly even know me. I shouldn't be putting this all on you. I mean, Jesus christ! It's only a fucking week in and we have found ourselves having a conversation like this on more than one occasion! How fucked up is that?"

"Louis, stop." Niall halts him. "Your not putting anything on us, so please don't think of yourself as a burden. It's just, last night, this is serious you know? The last time you did drugs you put yourself in a really dangerous situation, what if that happened again? Should you speak to your mum maybe? Talk to someone about this?" Niall spoke gently, and it was his calm demeanour that somehow managed to ground Louis.

"No. I can't tell my mum, if she found out, she'd worry so much and I can't put her through that after what I put her through last year."

"Louis-"

"No guys. I'm sorry but I can't tell her. Last night was serious, I know, but I had just had some really painful memories thrown in my face and was looking for anyway to cope. I went too hard last night, but, weed at least just helps me relax a bit, help me get out my head for a night. Sometimes I really need that."

"It wasn't just weed though Louis," sighs Liam. "You put yourself in a threatening situation, you can't just ignore that."

"I'm not ignoring it. I promise that I will try my hardest to not do that again. But I just feel..." Louis huffs, trying his best to find form words that articulate properly how he's feeling.

Because the thing is, now Louis' had a taste again, he doesn't know if he can let go completely again. His heart is too heavy and his mind is too crowded at the moment, and last night, even it was short, it was bliss, at least in the beginning. If he could just limit himself to weed mainly, that wouldn't be so bad, right? It would help him so much. It was clear that he hadn't healed from what happened, so he _needed_ something to help him, give him a release.

"I'm not, like, all together there, in my head. It's a mess, I'm a mess. And weed can help, it gives me a break from my own head. I need that, because if I don't get a break, then I'll snap and do what I did last night. Yesterday was the result of me ignoring my problems and deny my past and have it all come tumbling down on me at once. What I'm trying to say is, if I could just, maybe, at least, smoke weed causally, get high casually it would really help me. You two smoke weed casually, everyone does, so that's not so bad right?"

Liam and Niall were looking at him blankly. Neither spoke for a good, long minute. Louis was beginning to think that he's probably scared them of with his confessions, realising that it was really heavy, but Niall interrupted his cascade of thoughts.

"Harry told us that when you were confronted my Malcom, it seemed like he didn't know why you left Manchester either." He talked slowly, as if trying to convey a secret message to Louis through his mind. "I know that what happened with you and Jamie must of been bad, for you to leave uni over it, but i'm staring to freak out about what happened to you. You just said your head was so messed up that you need drugs to give yourself one night of freedom Louis. I'm scared for you man. Maybe if you spoke about what happened to you, what caused this for you, it would help?"

"I wish I could Niall, honestly, I do. But I-I physically can't. it's too painful." Louis knew that this was a feeble attempt when he looked at nails and Liams faces. He knew that this simply wasn't going to be enough anymore, and they'd never justify letting him back into drugs with just this information. 

Louis breathed deeply before starting again. "My first year at university wasn't great. The whole year was pretty bad, it wasn't the 'fun, amazing, spectacular' first year of uni it's meant to be. I had been with Jamie for two years before we even started uni together, since I was 16. And by the time we got to uni, the relationship was incredibly strained. Whats more, it only got worse, it became really damaging and as I've already said, it ended badly. I can't get into the specifics, at least not yet, but it ruined me. I'm still suffering from it. So please just keep that in mind when I say I need some form of release."

"We aren't gonna force you to talk Louis." Liam spoke softly, "we would never do that. I think we both kinda guessed that things ran a lot deeper than just a failed relationship, and we understand that you don't want to talk about it. Just know that we are here whenever, and we are never gonna a let you fall again." 

A sudden wave of affection enveloped Louis, warming his insides like hot chocolate. He launched himself at the two boys, embracing them so tightly he wouldn't be surprised if the breath had been knocked out of them.

"I can't thank you guys enough for just being you. For looking after me last night, you deserve so much better than me as your new flatmate. I know I sound like a broken record but I'm so so sorry for going of the rails last night and scaring you. I know it won't have been a pretty sight." 

"We'd do it again." Niall hummed into Louis' neck.

"No doubt about it." Agreed Liam, wrapping his arms tighter around Louis. "But it wasn't just us. Harry came last night and helped you out as well."

Niall scoffed. "I mean hardly." Liam looks at Niall sternly, "okay, sure. Harry helped get you home, then once you were in bed he told us what happened."

"Oh god." Louis moans. "Completely embarrassed myself in-front of him last night then." He screeches internally. 

"Yeah sort of." Laughs Niall "And, Louis, I understand. I know you can't talk about exactly what happened, but I've got the gist it was bad and I can tell you are dealing with a lot. We just want you to be safe." 

"Thank you." Was all Louis could bring himself to say.

They stayed like that, hugging each other tightly, until Louis announced he felt like going for a run.

"You sure?" Liam asked.

"Yes." Louis nodded. "I think it would be good to clear my head. Oh fuck, I just remembered that our second year of uni starts tomorrow." Laughed Louis, dragging his fingers through his hair.

"Innit." Responded Niall. "Can't say I'm that excited."

They all hummed in agreement, then Louis left to get changed. He wore a pair of black shorts, a long sleeved grey running top and some matching grey trainers.

He made his way back into the lounge, announcing that he was heading out.

"You want me to come with?" Asked Niall, standing up from the sofa.

"No, really it's fine. Think I'm probably going to grab some food, still haven't eaten."

"Okay, sounds good."

"Listen, boys. I just want to say that you two really mean a lot to me. I haven't had people in my life I could properly trust for a while now, so your support... well, it means a lot, let's just say that. I'm sorry that this week, god has it only been a week?, has been so heavy. I promise I will be a bit lighter from now on." Louis laughs slightly, revelling in the fact that so much has happened in just a week.

"You mean a lot to us as well Louis, truly." 

Niall nods in agreemnet. "You've got us mate, always." 

Louis stares at them for a beat more, before smiling and heading out.

* * *

He runs for about an hour. Wasn't planning on going for so long, but once he started his mind just left his body and it seemed his feet were carrying him off their own volition. 

He's beyond happy he decided to go for a run, his mind hadn't felt so at peace for days. The wind rushes around his head as he sprints faster, passing running kids, waddling old lady's and important looking business men. 

He rounds a corner near the park, heading back to his flat.

He feels free, like this. Just running with no purpose, letting his mind rest and with each drip of sweat that rolls off his body, the dread in his heart gets a little lighter.

Obviously, he's in a bad place. Mentally. And a run isn't gonna solve that, but he feels much safer in his own head now. Feels stronger for it. 

He slows down when he sees a cafe, about a 15 minute walk from his flat. The smell of fresh pastry engulfs him. The bitterness of coffee, the crisp of sausage rolls, the heavenly scent of chocolate cake.

Hunger rumbles from deep within, and he walks into the cafe. He realises now, as the bell rings above his head, that he really quite sweaty, his fringe sticking to his forehead slightly, and his tanned legs looking slick with moisture.

He takes his place at the back of the line, looking at the menu and deciding what he's going to get. He was really hungry, if only Niall was here so he could get away with ordering the whole menu.

A mop of curly brown chocolate hair catches his eye. The tall, lanky figure sits in the corner of the cafe, a cup of coffee in front of him, looking moody as ever.

Just his luck. Running into the very person who he had spilled his guts to last night, then after seen him try to destroy himself with drugs. Great.

If the universe was kind, Harry Styles wouldn't notice him and Louis would be able to take his food to go and hurry of back to his flat to hide himself away until he had to return to civilisation tomorrow. 

But, the universe wasn't kind.

Harry looked up to see Louis already staring. His eyes widened at the state of Louis. Ah, right, Louis had just ran and ran and ran for miles and looked gross and sweaty and all things _blah._

His eyes traced Louis' body in a way that made his skin prickle, slowly dragging his eyes down his lean torso and lingering on his bare legs, until they made their way back up to his face. They stared at each other for a moment, those big green eyes prominent as ever, engrossing Louis, making it hard for him to look away.

He truly was a work of art. All rockgod-tastic, clean cut sharp jawline, and high entrancing cheekbones.

No. Louis should not be thinking this about a boy who he'd embarrassed himself in front of more than humanly possible in the space of the week.

He stared at him with earnest, trying to convey the message of ' _I'm so sorry please forget everything you've ever known of me. Better yet just forget I exist entirely before my shame swallows me up whole'_ through his eyes. 

"Excuse me Sir? What can I get for you?" Louis snapped his head up to the girl at the counter.

"Yes. Sorry love. Erm I will have a tea, and one of your ciabattas from the lunch menu, please."Â 

"Which one would you like?"

"Oooh." Louis contemplates the list in front of him. "I'll have the sirloin steak one please, sounds lovely."

She smiles at him, "great choice. Are you staying in? Or is it to go?" 

Louis looks over to Harry, who quickly diverts his eyes to his phone, obvious that he had been staring at him before Louis looked his way. He really should speak with him. He doesn't want too, but he should. It'll be much easier for Louis to do with a nice sandwich in front of him. 

"I'm staying in."

"Lovely." She smiles politely. He hands her the money, collects his tea then makes his way to Harry's table once the girl informs him that they'll bring the sandwich over once its ready.

Harry pointedly doesn't look at him whilst he makes his way over, even though he clearly knows he is. It sort of makes Louis want to laugh, considering in every other encounter Louis has had with Harry he's had no problem staring Louis down without an ounce of shame. It calls to question what's changed, but then Louis remembers that he's probably freaked right out by the stuff he accidentally told him last night. 

Oh well. Best to just get it other with, Louis supposes. 

"Can I sit?" Harry looks startled at the request, like he expected literally any other words to come out of Louis' mouth.

"Sit? He questions. "You want to sit?"

"Er, yes? That is why I asked." Louis looks at Harry dumbly, confused by his confusion.

"You want to sit here, with me?"

Louis huffs out in exasperation. "Why are you being so weird about this? I want to talk to you."

"Sorry it's just, you know, I've never really got the expression that you actually want to talk to me out of your own free will." Harry says, but, all the same, he gestures for Louis to take a seat. "Of course you can sit though."

"Thank you." Louis takes a seat, still looking at Harry a little weirdly. "I suppose your right though, I've not shown much interest."

Harry laughs. "Yeah you could say that."

Louis sips his tea, eyeing Harry over the rim of his cup.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you, I just wanted to talk to you about last night."

"Ah." Harry sets his coffee cup down, his eyes flicking from Louis' damp hair, to the way his shirt clings around his waist slightly. Louis shifts uncomfortably under the stare, suddenly becoming aware of his unflattering appearance compared to Harry's effortless swagger. He was dressed in a silk black shirt, basically unbuttoned saved for three, and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans.

"Sorry about my grossness. I'm not the most attractive sweater, I'll admit. But this is what running does to me, I'm afraid." Louis gestures down to his body.

"You've been running?" Harry implores, eyebrows raised. 

"Indeed." 

"You don't have to apologise. You are the most attractive sweater I've ever seen." Harrys wets his lips and leans forward slightly. He looks confident as ever, flirting coming to him naturally.

Louis raises his eyebrows, smirking slightly. "You tryna flirt with me Harold?" 

"Here you go." The girl from the counter is back, this time with Louis' lunch in her hands. 

He tears his gaze away from Harry's, "thank you miss." She smiles and places the food down in front of him. 

"Would you like anything else?" 

"No that's fine, thank you." He grins and pops a chip into his mouth. 

She grins back and turns to Harry, "would you like anything?" 

"That looks really good, actually." Harry says, even though he's staring at Louis and not his food. "I think I'll have the same if you don't mind."

"Sure, no problem."

She walks back to the counter, calling out Harry's order. 

"Sheep." Louis whispers, causing Harry to grin. 

"You know, here we are, eating food on this little table, just us, some may say this is a date."

Louis' eyebrows shoot right up into his hairline, choking slightly as bites down on his sandwich. 

"In your dreams, sunshine."

"You have no idea." Harry says cheekily, batting his eyelashes. 

Louis laughs loudly, looking down at his plate. 

Oh _god._ He sat here so he could resolve the situation from last night, and instead he's flirting with him. He doesn't even know why. 

"Hello boys. How we feeling this morning?" Louis and Harry turn their heads to see Johnny standing before them. He looks a little worse for wear, remnants of the night before still clinging to him, but his chirper voice and wide grins shows he's not effected too badly.

"Alright Johnny. How about you?" Louis asks. 

"Fine fine. The usual you know. You on the other hand," he claps a hand to Louis' shoulder, "you seemed to have recovered pretty quick. You went pretty hard didn't you lad."

Louis gulps so hard he's sure its visible. He doesn't dare a glance at Harry, their flirting being interrupted with a big fat reminder of why Louis sat down in the first place.

"Yeah, I always feel better once I've got some food in me."

"I've gotta say though man, I'm glad you moved here. Don't think I've ever laughed as much as I did last night. Your fucking class." Louis' cheeks turn pink slightly under the stares of Johnny and Harry. The compliment doesn't make him feel good though, instead it just causes him to groan internally. 

He's saved for having to find a response though, because Johnnys talking again. 

"Anyway, listen mates I best be off. Just came to grab a coffee," he gestures to the to go cup he's got in his hand, "need to prepare myself for inevitable hell that is a lecture I will have to attend tomorrow. See you Louis, Harry." 

"See you." Harry and Louis say in unison, each offering a wave, then turning back to each other. 

Harry's avoiding eye contact, clearly uncomfortable with the reminder of last nights ordeal. Louis takes a deep breath, then begins.

"Look Harry, I-" but of course, just as he's getting going he's interrupted.

"Here you go." The waitress is back, this time with a plate of food for Harry. 

"Thank you." Harry replies. She smiles back in return then saunters of back to the counter. 

"I'm really sorry." Louis blurts out as soon as the waitress is out of sight. "Like _really_ sorry. I put so much on you last night and I'm so embarrassed. It was so weird of me to just be going as unloading all my emotional baggage and someone I've known barely a week." He chances a look at Harry, after he exhaled loudly, to find him looking at him intently. 

He quiet for a little while before he speaks again, "You don't have to apologise." 

"I do though. You don't know me and I really shouldn't have have put you in that situation last night. It was a shitty thing for me to do. So, I'm sorry." Louis breathes in deeply once he's finished. He chances a glance at Harry to see his reaction, but no joy. He's not giving anything away, and Louis couldn't read his expression if he had a 'every single harry styles facial expression and their meanings' book placed right in front of him. 

"Well, I'm not sorry. And I was happy to help."

Louis simply stares at him for a few seconds, then lets out a groan. Seriously, it was one _hell_ of a groan. Hand gestures were involved and all. He lifted his right hand and smacked it to his head, and he held that position for a little while before promptly letting his held fall to the table with a dull _thud_. 

"Er," Harry stutters, "are you okay?" He asks warily, a bit taken aback by Louis' sudden weird outburst. Louis laughs in self deprecation into the table, then slowly lifts his head back up to face Harry. 

"Fine, fine." He replies almost hysterically. 

"You really don't seem fine." Harry counters, eyeing Louis carefully. 

"Well I'll be honest, I'm pretty fucking mortified. I'm actually dying in embarrassment." He huffs out another groan and pops some chips into his mouth. "Can we please just agree to forget everything I've told you. In fact, forgetting meeting me at all would probably be better." 

"I don't want to forget." Harry says quietly. So quietly Louis isn't quite sure he heard him right.

"Huh?"

"I don't want to forget." Harry repeats more confidently. "I don't want to forget the stuff you told me, or meeting you." Louis just blinks at him, head becoming a bit fuzzy. 

"But why? Why would you even care? Surely you are judging me profusely after everything I said to you." Louis bites his lip and waits for Harry's conformation of this. 

"I'm not. I'm _really_ not. I just don't want you to completely forget telling me what you did." Okay so if Louis' head was fuzzy before, it's completely frazzled now.

"Harry, you do realise I didn't _mean_ to tell you what I did right? Like I didn't set out to tell you that last night." Harry looks like he's holding back an eye roll. 

" _Obviously_ I know that. But it's happened now, so why try and deny it? I can't un-know what you told me, however much you might want me to." Louis knows this, obviously he knows this. Doesn't make it any easier to accept. 

"I guess. I just want to start again." Louis says timidly, feeling dejected.

After a while, Harry replies, "Okay." 

They share a moment of just staring at each other before the waitress interrupts them. 

"Are you all finished?" Louis looks down to his plate, he hasn't actually made it through half of his, but he hasn't touched it in so long and neither has Harry so the waitress must have thought they were done.

He's lost his appetite anyway. "Yes thanks babe." 

She clears their plates and then its just Harry and Louis again. It's probably best to leave right about now. 

"Okay, well. I best be off." Louis makes to get up but his halted halfway up by delicate fingers encircling around his wrist, holding onto Louis firmly. The touch is soft, yet sturdy. Harry looks straight up into his eyes, holding eye contact while he talks. 

"Louis, I just want you to know that if you ever do feel like talking, I'm here. I know that something bad has happened to you, and I can see how much it's effecting you. Don't bury yourself in it." Louis is completely mesmerised by him. His gentle touch, delicate voice, his fierce eyes. He's both captivating and entrancing at once.

Louis being so effected by Harry's demeanour must be the only reason he utters out a soft, "Okay." 

Harry's eyes flick to his hold on Louis' wrist, he traces his fingers almost minutely. Louis retracts his wrist away instantly, breaking free from the touch. Harry keeps his eyes where they are, staring blankly at his own hand hanging in the air. 

"I'll see you around." Louis says before practically running out of the cafe. 

* * *

Going to university in London isn't all that different to going to University in Manchester except he was woken on Monday morning by Niall jumping on his bed and singing a chorus of:

"Wake up wake up give yourself a shake up! Get your body moving!" Louis groaned and shoved him so hard that Niall fell flat on the floor, but before Louis could even react he was back up on his feet and running into the kitchen shouting nonsense about, "A big, big day calls for a big, big breakfast!" Louis just flopped back into his pillow for five more minutes of undisturbed, bliss sleep. 

His first day was filled with welcome lectures, beginners seminars and briefs on what the year will hold. Just normal first day business. Louis is so glad to be starting again. He feels as if he's turned a new page and is _finally_ actually hopeful of future prospects. 

On Tuesday there was a seminar offering extra classes to take which might benefit your degree. Louis opted for a social ethics one, once a week. It wouldn't do anything for his credit but it could boost future job hopes. Louis never did more than he had to last year, so he was determined to do more than just the basic minimum. 

This new uni is following basically the same business course as the one in Manchester was, so he's not really missed much, but he was asked by his lecturer to stay behind this afternoon just to catch up and discuss what his first year at Manchester was like. 

When he was finally free to go, he burst out of the doors to the lecture hall to the tune of his phone ringing, Niall's number flashing across the screen. 

"Lou! Where you at?" Niall shouted threw the phone. Louis winced and took the phone away from from his ear. Never one for inside voices, was Niall. 

"Sorry man, was kept behind for a little _one on one_. You at the flat?" 

"Yes we are!" This time its Liam's voice on the line. 

"Am I on speaker?" 

"Yep." Niall now. "Its almost 6, how long was this _one on one_?" He can _feel_ Niall winking right now. 

"Just over an hour, and why did you say it like that?" Louis asks whilst walking out the building and rounding the corner towards the flat.

"Like what hmm?"

"You know what." Louis rolls his eyes. 

"Hm well isn't your lecturer Mr Havers? I'm straight but even I'd give him a go." A chorus of laughs comes through his speaker. He's not sure but it defiantly sounds like more than two voices coming from the other end. 

"Fuck sake." Louis laughs along with them. "It was literally _just_ a chat about the differences between my course last year at Manchester and the one here." 

"Yeah yeah." Liam drawls out. 

"Fuck off," Louis smirks. "Anyway what's going on? Swear I can hear more voices."

"Yeah a few people are round, watching Saturday's match that we missed." Louis had completely forgotten about match of the day on Saturday, which is _so_ unlike him its worrying. 

"Shit, I forgot about that. How far in are you?" Louis practically begs.

"Not started with you yet honeybum." Louis breathes an audible sigh of belief.

"You angel Nialler. Get ready for when I'm back because you are going to get a big fuck off kiss." 

"Careful now, Havers will get jealous." Louis rolls his eyes once more. 

"Shut up. Whose round?"

"Erm," Niall pauses for a moment, as if he's looking around at all the people that are currently sprawled around Louis' flat right now. "There's Nick, Johnny, Harry and Zayn." Louis' heart rate begins to pick up. Harry. He's not seen him since their awkward coffee encounter and Louis has been resolutely ignoring that weird moment that happened at the end between them. "Lou? You still there."

"Yeah, I'm here." 

"So, when you getting home then?" It's Liam asking this time. Louis wishes Niall would just take the phone of speaker and just speak to himself, it's getting confusing the constant change. 

"Literally walking up the street now, want me to get anything?"

"Nope just get here, miss your pretty face." 

Louis hums. "See you in two ticks sweet cheeks."

* * *

As soon as Louis makes it past the threshold of the door, he's bombarded by Niall and Liam. They bash into him so hard the breathes knocked out of him. 

"Guys, _ow_ , what the fuck are you doing?" Louis wheezes out. 

"Missed ya." Niall says, planting kisses on Louis' face. 

"I saw you this morning." Louis points out. 

"A whole ten hours ago, that was." Liam huffs. 

"Are both of you _that_ in love with me?" They begin to poke and prod at his sides and Louis tries to squirm away but they've got too strong a grip on him. 

After a moment of struggle he wrenches free of them, whipping around breathlessly to greet their guests that just had to watch that whole exchange. He's met with the sharp pierce of Harry's green eyes. He looks away. 

"Alright boys?" He says, nodding his head at Johnny and Nick who are, as suspected, sprawled across the sofa. 

"Tommo." They both grin back. 

Niall, Liam and Louis all go and sit on the other sofa, Niall pulling Louis into his lap. Harry watches the action, before dragging his gaze to the paused TV.

Zayn is laying on the floor by Harry's feet. "Hiya Zayn." he chirps, knowing how much he annoys him. He only just resits the urge to call him 'Zaynie' but even Louis knows when he's pushing he's luck. 

"Hey Louis." He eyes him carefully. He doesn't sound as exasperated as he usably does when he's speaking to Louis, so maybe they are making progress. 

"Well, let's get the show on the road lads!" Niall exclaims. "I'm a slut for a good footie match, Liverpool always put on a good show." 

* * *

At half time, Louis goes to the kitchen to grab everyone some more beers. Maybe vodka, if they have it. He's raiding the fridge when the familiar chant of an Irishman flows into the kitchen as well the low drawl as non other than Harry Styles. 

"All I'm saying Harry is that Adrian is the best keeper of the league. You can't deny it." Harry huffs something under his breath that sounds a lot like 'Lee Grant', Niall chooses to ignore it. "We've come to aid you Louis, in your quest to bring us drinks."

Louis turns around to smile at him, "very gracious of you sir." Niall sticks his tongue out cheekily whilst Louis sets the beers on the counter top that separates him from Harry and Niall. Louis glances at Harry, whose currently ruffling his hands through his hair. He ignores the slither of skin that shows from the way harry's shirt rode up his stomach. 

"Spill then." Niall states simply. 

Louis quirks an interested eyebrow, "spill what?"

"Come on, the details of your 'one on one' with Havers. You shagging lecturers now Tommo?" Niall chimes. 

Louis bites his lip and shakes his head at Niall. "You little shit."

"Niall!" Liam shouts from the living room, "get in here you fat fuck, Nick is saying that Man City is better than Man U!" 

Niall sighs exaggeratedly, "duty calls." Then he leaves the room, not having helped at _all_ with Louis' quest to bring drinks. He'll bring that up with him later, but right now he's got a loitering Harry Styles in his midsts. 

"Is it true?" Harry questions, staring at Louis intently. Louis, who was still staring after Niall amusedly, lets out a small laugh before turning to Harry. 

"What sorry?" Louis asks, still smiling, somewhat distracted by Niall and his _oh so funny_ wit. 

"What Niall said about your _one on one_ session." He's smirking, but Louis senses he's a bit more serious about it than he's letting on. 

"No, it's not true. It was genuinely just a chat, Niall just being a little shit, as per." 

"Havers is pretty fit though." Harry says, stepping closer to Louis. 

"I've got eyes, I've noticed. Fit and forty. I like my balls unwrinkled for the time being, if I'm honest." Harry lets out a startled laugh.

Louis has to suppress him self from laughing along with him. In fact it's quite hard to just hold back smiling from the look or pure glee radiating of Harry's face. 

Once Harry's laughing has died down he speaks again. 

"So, how's your first week been so far?" Louis grabs a bottle opener out the drawer and opens one for him and Harry. He offers it to Harry, who takes it. Louis is careful not to let their fingers brush. "Cheers." Harry says. 

"Eh, it's been alright. You know, same old same old." He smiles at Harry before taking a swig off his drink. 

"It much different from Manchester?" Harry bites his slip slightly, eyes tracing Louis' movement. 

"Not really." Louis is busying himself with pulling crisps and snacks out the cupboards that he's completely oblivious to Harry tracing his every move. "The first year courses were pretty much the same anyway so I'm not behind or anything." 

"What are you studying again?" 

"Business and Management. Your doing music aren't you?" Louis asks, turning back round to face harry with an armful of food. Harry reaches forward to grab a few bags or crisps. "Thank you." Louis says softly. 

"Yeah I'm doing music, did Niall tell you?" Louis hums in agreement. "You've got a nice flat." 

"Thanks, it is much nicer than my old one. Not as nice as yours though, Mr richy rich." Louis waggles his eyebrows, whilst Harry laughs. 

"All thanks to my parents." He looks down slightly at the mention of their name, his smile drooping slightly. Louis knows when a topic is sensitive for someone to talk about, so he doesn't pick on Harrys obvious change in demeanour, however much he may be intrigued by it.

"Where would we be without them, eh?" Louis says light heartedly. 

"Probably in a happier version of ourself." Ok. So if Louis was a little intrigued before, he was defiantly now. But from the look on Harry's face he can tell that he hadn't meant to let it slip, and Louis is never one to push someone to talk about something they don't want too. Harry looks beyond uncomfortable, clearly wishing he had never said anything, and Louis may have not got off to the best start with the boy but he'll be damned if he lets someone feel that way around him. 

"Oh don't get on me about parents giving you a hard time. One time when I was like, oh I don't know, eight maybe? I was getting chased around school by some of the girls who were a couple of years older than me, I can't remember why they were chasing me, probably fancied me," he winks cheekily at Harry, whose looking a lot more comfortable now that Louis has avoided Harry's comment and not pushed him to talk about it. "Anyway, they were chasing me right, and there was like five of them! It wasn't just me running for my life against one girl, I had the entire fucking cast of Mean Girls on my tail. They cornered me and were closing in so really there was no option for me other than to bite my way out of the situation."

Harry laughs loudly, any lingering sadness of the mention of his parents out the window. "Bite your way out?" He questions, smiling intently at Louis. 

"Yes Sir, bite my way out. And I was bloody successful as well. Chomped my way to freedom." Harry is almost laughing hysterically now, completely mesmerised by Louis' story. 

"Your brilliant." He says. Louis grins happily. "But what does this have to do with parents giving you a hard time?" Oh yeah. Louis gets so into his storytelling sometimes he forgets what the story is even about. Sometimes he'll start a sentence and not even know where its going. 

"Everything, Sir Styles. You see, the girls weren't too impressed by my attempt at re-creating Shaun of the Dead. So they told on me, the little snitches, and I had an earful from Mrs Sparks about how biting is never a way to resolve an issue and blah de blahhdy blah." Louis waves a hand dismissively at this. "I had no idea she rang my mum though, and when I got home that day it was to a positively fuming mother sat at the kitchen story with another speech just like Mrs Sparks ready and waiting. Only this time she actually had me _ring_ every single one of the girls I had 'assaulted'. 

Harry smiles spread so wide of his face Louis thinks it's about to fall off. "No." He says, mock shock.

" _Yes._ Boy when I tell you they were the most uncomfortable five phone calls of my life. ' _I'm sorry Molly for trying to chew my way out you grip. I promise it won't happen again.'_ And the whole time my mum just sat across from me, arms folded and constantly tutting. She didn't drop it for weeks, and I wasn't allowed pudding for a whole _week."_

Harry was laughing so loudly throughout the whole speech, that by the end they had subdued to just small giggles. Louis tried not to think about how adorable that was. 

"How cruel of her, no pudding for a whole week." He says, red in the face from all the laughing. Any past uncomfortableness completely forgotten. Great, mission accomplished, Louis thinks to himself.

"There may have been a few phone calls to child-line that week." Louis admits. Harry laughs _again_ and boy if Louis was not careful he was going to become quickly addicted to that sound. 

"Your great, so great." Harry says fondly, eyes lit up happily. 

"Why thank you, Harold. All though your not the first to say that, Niall and Liam like to remind me of that daily." He winks at Harry, grabbing all the food and beer and heading for the living room finally, he surprised there hasn't been any moans from Niall about where the food and drinks are. 

"You three are really close already aren't you? You, Niall and Liam." 

"Yeah we are." He admits fondly. "I'm really glad they had a free room." 

"I'm really glad you came here." Louis' eyebrows shoot right up into his hairline. 

"You are?" Louis says in astonishment. 

"Yeah, we need a student to start shagging the lecturers, spice things up a bit." Harry grins, then winks cheekily at Louis, before leaving him standing in the kitchen and swaggering back to the lounge, a flirty sway to his hips. 


End file.
